WASHINGTON — Congressional leaders announced Tuesday that they reached an agreement on the final set of budget projects for this fiscal year.
Now, the question is how quickly lawmakers can pass initiatives to avoid a partial government shutdown.
Joe Biden said he will approve the spending bill package as soon as he receives it, time is running out. Legislative staff need time to finish the text of the bill, which is an arduous task.
The House of Representatives has a rule that legislators have 72 hours to review a bill before voting. And the Senate has never been known for its ability to speed. Meanwhile, funding for several key agencies expires at midnight on Friday.
The package is expected to provide about $886 billion for the Pentagon. It will also finance the Health, Labor and other departments.
Overall, the spending packages in the budget provide a 3% boost to defense, while keeping non-defense spending at roughly the same level as the previous year.
This complies with an agreement that former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy established with the White House, which restricted spending for two years and suspended the debt ceiling until January 2025, so that the federal government would remain solvent.
The Republicans of the House of Representatives they are determined to end the practice of bundling the 12 annual expense projects in a single large project called the bus. This time, they managed to divide the expense projects into two parts.
With the possible publication of the legislative text in the late hours of Tuesday, the Lower House’s 72-hour rule means that it will receive it until Friday afternoon, hours before the funding expires. House Speaker Mike Johnson will likely have to introduce the bill through an expedited process that requires two-thirds support to pass.
The majority of the no votes are expected to come from Republicans, who have criticized the current administration’s overall levels of waste in the White House, as well as the lack of policy mandates that some conservatives seek, such as restricting access to abortion. eliminating diversity and inclusion programs by federal agencies and prohibiting gender affirmative care.
Source: With information from AP.
