House Republican leadership released text for a stopgap spending deal on Tuesday afternoon as the conference races against the clock to get funding legislation to President Donald Trump’s desk by the end of the month to avoid a government shutdown.
The continuing resolution will extend current funding levels for the federal government and punt the deadline to Nov. 21. The bill includes a $30 million increase for a law enforcement mutual aid fund. This is in addition to the $58 million request from the Trump administration for security increases for the executive and judicial branches.
House Republican leadership sources told reporters the goal is to vote on the CR on Friday.
The text comes just two weeks before the Sept. 30 deadline, which marks the end of the fiscal year. Appropriators have struggled over the last few cycles to pass all 12 appropriations bills ahead of the deadline, so continuing resolutions and “minibuses” have become more commonplace.
The CR does not include language addressing the expiring Obamacare tax credits or reforms to Medicaid, which is likely to receive severe backlash from Democratic leadership, who have urged that, without healthcare concessions, Republicans won’t get their votes.
But the omission was expected, given Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-LA) statement ahead of the CR text drop that there was “zero chance” they would be included.
The speaker said during the weekly GOP press conference that the House has time to “figure all that out,” referring to the Obamacare subsidies, calling it a “December policy issue, not a September funding issue.” The tax credits expire at the end of the year.
Democrats and centrist GOP lawmakers raised concerns that the expiration of the tax credits would negatively affect their districts. But GOP leadership, top committee leaders, and fiscal hawks have shown little interest in extending COVID-19-era policies from the Biden administration.
“I can tell you that there’s real concern, I have concern, Republicans have concern, about those policies, if you look at how much they’ve been abused,” Johnson said. “I don’t think that’s going to be a popular measure when people understand how that works.”
“We have time to have that debate, and it’s not something that should be involved in the government funding deadline by the end of September, that’s the point,” the speaker added.
Member security proved to be a major sticking point for the CR in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination last week. Some members began to rethink their outdoor schedules, and others criticized leadership for being behind the curve on heightening security measures for lawmakers.
Eyes were on the $5,000 a month provided to members in the wake of the assassination of Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman, which expires on Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year.
But House Republican leadership sources told reporters that extending the $5,000 stipend would be addressed at a later date, likely through a separate legislative branch appropriations bill. So, a full conversation on a more permanent solution to keep members safe won’t occur until later this year.
Anomalies requested by the White House, which essentially add or subtract money from the CR, are included in it, as well as a $1 billion funding fix for the Washington, D.C., budget. Supplemental disaster funding, a longtime Democratic request, is not in the legislation, though GOP leadership sources noted there is an anomaly allowing the disaster relief fund to spend at a higher rate for disasters that have occurred or could occur in the future.
Eyes will be on Republicans to see who is against the CR now that the text has been released. Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) told reporters ahead of the text drop he was undecided on how he’d vote, saying he wants to read it before making a decision.
GOVERNMENT FUNDING BILL DELAYED AS HOUSE LOOKS TO WORK IN MEMBER SECURITY PROVISION
Reps. Thomas Massie (R-KY), Victoria Spartz (R-IN), Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), and Warren Davidson (R-OH) have all said they are “no’s” on the CR, though Davidson, Greene, and Spartz are known to fold when the White House and GOP leadership apply pressure.
Member security funding could push some Democrats to vote for the CR despite House Democratic leadership continuing to blast Republicans’ CR as a “partisan” deal. Depending on how many Democrats vote for the bill, that could give Johnson a slight buffer as he works to pass the legislation, mostly along party lines.