Leadership Reaches Agreement on Remaining FY 2024 Spending Bills

Congressional leadership and White House officials have reached an agreement on the next tranche of funding bills as lawmakers look to turn the page on fiscal year (FY) 2024. Leaders announced the agreement after navigating several border security and immigration policy disagreements within the Homeland Security spending bill, which may ultimately need a year-long continuing resolution (CR) given the fact that the two sides are still far apart on these issues. Bill text for the remaining measures is expected to be finalized in the next day or two. As such, leadership is discussing another short-term CR to keep the government funded through the weekend if votes slip past Friday’s midnight deadline.

• Today in Congress. While lawmakers wait for bill text and an announcement pertaining to votes on the forthcoming “minibus,” both chambers will be in session today. On the House side, 10 suspension bills are up for consideration, including a bipartisan bill out of the Budget Committee that seeks to capture a better budgetary analysis of preventive health care legislation. Later in the week, lawmakers will take up a series of GOP-sponsored energy bills under regular order that seek to, among other things: (1) repeal section 134 of the Clean Air Act (H.R. 1023); (2) promote and “restore” U.S. energy production (H.R. 1121; H.R. 6009); and (3) implement a series of Clean Water Act permitting reforms (H.R. 7023). In the upper chamber, senators will hold a final confirmation vote on Nicole Berner’s nomination to be a U.S. Circuit Judge for the Fourth Circuit.