FY25 Budget Caps: The House Appropriations Committee seems poised to stick to the FY25 budget caps set out in the McCarthy-Biden debt limit agreement from 2023. This agreement could pave the way for a small increase in defense spending combined with cuts to non-defense programs. While this plan could nullify the concerns of hardline conservatives, it may not sit well with Republican defense hawks, who could argue the increase is too small. Further, the deal could leave the House barreling towards a standoff with the Senate over the increase in budget cuts, as Senate Democrats—along with House Democrats—have argued any increase to defense spending above the 1% cap needs to be met with a commensurate increase to non-defense spending.
Subcommittee Allocations: House Appropriations Chairman Tom Cole (R-OK) said earlier this week that subcommittee allocations, commonly known as 302(b)s, could be released as early as next week. However, these numbers might need to be adjusted after the CBO releases its federal receipt data on May 22nd. This timeline will allow markups on FY25 appropriations to start in late May or early June. Chairman Cole has stated that he wants all of the bills passed out of the Committee by the start of the August recess.
One Last Supplemental? It was reported this week that FEMA is expected to run out of money before the year is over. The agency forecasts that it will need an extra $3 billion to make it through September. Chairman Cole noted that he has been in very preliminary discussions with the White House about this issue.
DHS Subcommittee: After a few weeks of relative calm on the positioning of cardinals on appropriations subcommittees, Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-IL) became the new top Democrat on the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security following the news that Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) has been indicted on federal bribery charges. Rep. Cuellar resigned from the position following his indictment.
Lines in the Sand: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's motion to vacate was made privileged on Wednesday night. Eleven Republicans voted to oust Speaker Johnson, which would have been enough if 163 Democrats hadn't joined with Republicans to table the motion. Previously, in an attempt to avoid the ouster vote, Speaker Johnson received a list of demands from Rep. Greene, which included enacting a 1% across-the-board spending cut if the 12 annual appropriations bills aren't enacted by the September 30 deadline, and committing to no additional aid to Ukraine, a top issue for many conservatives. The likelihood of these and other demands by Greene and other hard-right conservatives being met lessened with the failure of this week's motion to vacate.
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