Congress Punts Government Funding to Lame Duck Session
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Congress passed a continuing resolution (CR) last week, funding most agencies at their current level through December 16, 2022. The Senate voted 72-25 to pass the stopgap measure on Tuesday after Democratic leadership agreed to drop a controversial environmental policy rider. The House of Representatives then approved the measure Friday afternoon.
The stopgap measure also includes over $12 billion in assistance to Ukraine, including new weapons for its military and support for the government in Kyiv. The funds are slightly more than the $11.7 billion requested by the White House, and the legislation also authorizes the transfer of up to $3.7 billion in U.S. defense equipment to Ukraine.
A portion of the bill is dedicated to natural disaster assistance, including $2 billion for unmet needs and $1 billion for heating assistance. The bill also reauthorizes the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) user agreements for prescription and generic drugs, and medical devices; and assists Afghan refugees in resettling.
Congress did not add the $22.4 billion the Biden Administration requested for COVID-19 resources or the $4.5 billion to respond to monkeypox cases. Negotiations concerning COVID-19 previously fell apart after some Republican lawmakers expressed concern that the White House failed to provide sufficient details regarding previously appropriated funds.
Further, Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) withdrew his proposed energy infrastructure permitting rider to expedite the CR process. The rider garnered criticism from both sides of the aisle. In opposition to the rider, Republican lawmakers argued that it was insufficient to speed up priority projects while some Democrats questioned the proposal's requirement that federal agencies bypass the typical pipeline permit review process.
Senator Shelley Capito (R-WV), a supporter of Senator Manchin’s proposal, pointed to the National Defense Authorization Act as a potential vehicle in future, given that “when legislating is done via backroom deals and with input from only one party, it is extremely difficult to garner broad support.”
Congress narrowly avoided a government shutdown by punting appropriations with the stopgap measure hours before the previous year’s funding expired.
Nevertheless, Stakeholders have expressed concern over the pattern of using CRs to delay appropriations. The Professional Managers Association (PMA), representing managers, management officials, and non-bargaining unit employees at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), previously shed light on the damaging effects of Congress’s reliance on continuing resolutions for the IRS.
“The constant inability of Congress to fund the government adequately and on time has widespread ramifications on long-term planning, mission delivery, and taxpayer services… The IRS cannot conduct robust hiring and onboarding when it is in a continuing resolution state. Put simply, the IRS cannot do its job effectively when Congress consistently fails to do its job. And taxpayers ultimately pay the price… The annual appropriations panic is a waste of taxpayer time and resources,” PMA Executive Director Chad Hooper said earlier this year.
For 2022, Congress issued three CRs–nearly four–to prevent a government shutdown. The appropriations package eventually passed five months after the fiscal year began and less than six months before the next.
