Note: Due to the Republican Convention next week and the accompanying recess, The Topline will be taking the week off but will be back in your inbox July 26.
A Win for Regular Order: The House Appropriations Committee drafted and passed all 12 appropriations bills by July 10, giving House leadership time to manage the remaining bills on the floor. Running behind schedule because of the FY24 budget and a last-minute change in committee leadership, Chairman Cole set a frenetic pace to complete the committee's work by mid-July. The bills represent the House's "opening position" to negotiate with the Senate and the Administration later in the process. While members may disagree on the content of the bills, Republicans and Democrats alike are excited to be moving legislation through the normal markup process.
Reality Check: Despite this progress, appropriators also hit a snag this week as the Legislative Branch bill failed on the House floor Thursday. What is normally a politically easy bill to pass lost ten Republican votes, largely due to the cost of living freeze for members of Congress and an increase in the subcommittee's allocation. Chairman Cole called the failed vote "inexplicable," while Subcommittee Chairman David Valadao (R-CA) noted that some members had expressed concerns ahead of the vote.
We do not believe that the bill's failure to pass on the floor is a sign of doom for the House appropriations process. The bill failed by eight votes and 15 members did not vote. The remaining 11 bills cut spending, so we don't anticipate funding levels will be a repeat issue although other issues are sure to arise. Further, we note that the House, by reporting all bills out of committee, is now in a position to conference. Floor passage isn't necessary – although it is preferred.
Senate Kick-Off: The comparatively quiet Senate Appropriations Committee sprung into action this week. Skipping subcommittee markups entirely, the full committee marked up three bills: Ag, Mil-Con/ Va, and Leg Branch, which were all reported favorably by unanimous or near-unanimous votes.
The panel also approved subcommittee allocations for all twelve appropriations bills on a party-line vote (15-11). Senator Kennedy (R-LA) voiced frustration about the allocations during the hearing, to which the chair and ranking member pledged to work toward a bipartisan agreement in the coming months. While no Republicans supported the 302(b)s, the remainder of the bills are expected to receive bipartisan support.
The subcommittee allocations do not include the $34.5 billion in emergency funding negotiated earlier this week by Chair Patty Murray (D-WA) and Vice Chair Susan Collins (R-ME). The tentative deal, which amounts to $21 billion for defense programs and $13.5 billion for non-defense programs, puts the Senate at odds with the House and with the statutory topline numbers from last year's debt ceiling negotiation.
It remains unclear whether the Senate will consider any appropriations bills on the floor this Congress, as there is limited floor time left before the election. Vice Chair Collins continues to emphasize the need for floor consideration and swift action on the bills, particularly given the one percent cut prescribed by last year's debt ceiling agreement that would take place if any portion of the government is operating under a short-term CR on January 1. Notably, this cut would be to FY23 levels – the year in which the debt ceiling agreement was enacted.
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