Congressional leaders emerge with 6 spending bills

WASHINGTON — Congressional leaders emerged Sunday with a package of six bills that would set full-year spending levels for some federal agencies; It was a step forward in a long-overdue funding process that has been beset by infighting among House Republicans as well as sharp political divisions between the two parties. .

The release of the text of the legislation over the weekend was designed to comply with the House’s rule of giving lawmakers at least 72 hours to review the bill before voting. And it’s a hopeful sign that lawmakers will avoid a partial shutdown that would begin at 12:01 a.m. Saturday for agencies covered by the bill, such as Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Transportation, Justice and others.

Congressional leaders hope to wrap up votes on the package this week and continue negotiations to pass the remaining six-year spending bill before March 22.

House Speaker Mike Johnson highlighted some important policy and spending gains for conservatives, even as many of his GOP colleagues called the changes inadequate. Some Republicans in the House of Representatives hoped that the possibility of a shutdown would prompt more concessions from Democrats.

Overall, this year’s spending bills would keep nondefense spending relatively flat with last year’s spending despite a rise in inflation, about $70 billion less than President Joe Biden originally intended.

“House Republicans have achieved significant conservative policy victories, rejected left-wing proposals, and implemented sharp cuts to institutions and programs critical to President Biden’s agenda,” Johnson said in a prepared statement.

Earlier this year, Johnson and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced that upper-level spending levels for discretionary spending this year had been agreed upon; This amount exceeded 1.6 trillion dollars. However, this agreement did not address potential policy mandates included in the bills. This is where the negotiations have been focused in recent weeks.

Democrats have fended off most of the policymakers House Republicans have tried to engage. For example, they beat back an effort to reverse the FDA’s decision to allow the abortion pill mifepristone to be sold in retail pharmacies rather than only in hospitals, clinics and doctors’ offices. Democrats also said the bill would fully fund a nutrition program for low-income women, infants and children, known as WIC.

“Throughout the negotiations, Democrats fought hard to guard against cuts to housing and nutrition programs and to steer clear of harmful provisions that would further restrict access to women’s health or roll back the progress we have made in combating climate change,” Schumer, DN, said. .Y. said that he supports the law.

But House Republicans have managed to make some policy gains. For example, one provision would block the sale of oil in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to China.

Another provision strengthens gun rights for some veterans. Under current law, the VA must submit the beneficiary’s name to the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System whenever a trustee is appointed to help manage someone’s benefits. This year’s spending package prohibits the VA from passing on that information unless the appropriate judicial authority determines that the beneficiary poses a danger to himself or others.

Still, some of the more conservative members of the GOP House of Representatives criticized the spending bills, and many voted against the short-term extension that Congress passed last week, which averted a shutdown and allowed negotiations to continue.

“When we got here, we all promised we wouldn’t do this nonsense,” Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., said as the short-term extension was discussed. “The American people have been demanding responsible spending and border security for years, but we have failed to deliver. “When will we heed our voters’ calls to rein in wasteful spending, protect borders and defeat the bureaucracy that targets them?”

Last week’s short-term extension was the fourth in recent months. The approval vote was 320 to 99, but House Republicans were split, with 113 in support and 97 against. The Senate approved the extension 77-13.

The votes tied to the spending bills come five months after the start of the budget year.