Parliamentary voting on the government’s long-term budget agreed to on Tuesday night must be completed by December 22. Legislators are debating a continuing resolution that would keep spending at its current level through December 16. (CR). House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) and Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) released a joint statement announcing the framework agreement (D-CT).
Hill gives more detail than what was included in the initial press release.
The Appropriations Committee Chairman, former Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy, said earlier this week that lawmakers had “reached a bipartisan, bicameral framework that should allow us to conclude an omnibus appropriations bill that can pass the House and Senate and be signed into law by the President.”
The other Senate and House vice chairs of the appropriations committees, Richard Shelby and Rosa DeLauro, are whom Leahy says he received the idea from (R-Ala). (D-Conn.).
Now that they have something to work with, the Appropriations committees in the House and Senate can “work around the clock,” to use a phrase from DeLauro, to settle on the finer points of the 2023 budget.
Inflation affects the government just as it does the rest of us. Leahy was worried that a continuing resolution of only two months would make us procrastinate even longer.
According to news accounts, no single member of the House of Representatives, Republican or otherwise, supported the statement. Higher-up meddling has slowed the CR’s rollout. Given that the Democrats will soon hold a majority in the House of Representatives, Republican lawmakers are understandably hesitant to give the outgoing majority any new powers during the current lame-duck session.
The Republican legislation they intend to pass this week is only permanent, which is important to them. The House’s Republican leaders are lobbying for a stopgap funding measure to keep the government operating until January while a permanent budget deal is negotiated. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky) released a statement after Democratic senators Patrick Leahy, Richard Shelby, and Rosa DeLauro failed to go forward with comprehensive finance legislation this week.
As a means of consolidating control and postponing choices until after the new year, Republican leaders in the House of Representatives pushed their members to vote against a short-term financing package on Tuesday.
Rep. Steve Scalise issued a whip warning that the short-term continuing resolution gives Democrats more time to pursue crucial lame-duck budget measures over which the GOP has no power (R-La.).
Let’s pretend that the deadline for passing the omnibus package is December 22. If that’s the case, legislators will spend Christmas and New Year’s Day debating and maybe voting on ideas to end the government shutdown.
The budget measure’s passage date and tactics have been the subject of heated debate.
If you’re looking for more context on the conflict, this POLITICO article could help.
There is hope that the so-called omnibus legislation may be passed before the holidays if a bipartisan framework can be established. Unfortunately, time is running out. Policy ideas that members of Congress hope to adopt before the next Congress convenes in January are only one example of the many possible issues that may need assistance getting support in both chambers of Congress.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has promised urgent aid for Ukraine, which will likely be approved before the year ends. The Electoral Vote Act would be updated to reflect these changes due to this legislation. When it comes to taxes, only the Child Tax Credit expansion requires additional study to ensure its long-term viability.
When President Trump put the Electoral Count Act to the test on January 6, 2021, senators made it their primary mission to find a method to make changes acceptable to both parties. Back in September, while the measure was being examined by the Senate Rules Committee, McConnell voiced his support for it. More aid should be sent to Ukraine before the end of the year, a position shared by the Republican Party and the Democratic Party for months.
With Congress having settled on a $1.7 trillion budget framework, more major government spending legislation might soon be introduced to address fundamental economic and policy issues.
On Wednesday, the House may vote on a temporary funding measure to keep the government operational until December 23. In all likelihood, Congress will have until Friday at midnight to approve the enormous package funding government agencies for the rest of the fiscal year.
A single senator can filibuster this interim legislation to acquire more time to negotiate revisions or garner support from the other chamber.
The Republican Party’s position that the requirements of its members have already been fulfilled by prior party-line spending legislation is the biggest hurdle to approving the different packages.
For the Democratic Party, the solution to the problem of rising prices has always been to increase government spending significantly.
Among the Republican members of the House and Senate, there are both strong proponents and skeptics. Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), the minority leader in the House, reportedly exclaimed “hell no” when shown the proposed budget. McCarthy still has a shot at becoming House Speaker if he can win over his remaining doubters. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has backed the plan over McCarthy’s objections.
There is a new “power dynamic” on Capitol Hill due to strategic differences between Republican leaders.
Senator Raphael Warnock of Georgia was reelected this week, ensuring that McConnell and his party would stay in the minority despite McConnell’s stunning victory as Senate Minority Leader last month.
Despite some backlash on social media for his support of the omnibus budget proposal on Twitter on Wednesday, Senator McConnell continues to enjoy high approval ratings.