Major Obstacle Cleared in Rush to Avoid Partial Shutdown
Lawmakers and the White House reached a deal on funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the biggest sticking point among the six remaining appropriations bills. Now negotiators are rushing to write and formalize the six bills and get them passed ahead of the Friday, March 22, shutdown deadline.
The six funding bills will fund approximately 70 percent of the federal government until the end of the fiscal year on September 30, including the Departments of Homeland Security, Defense, State, Health and Human Services, Labor, and Education, as well as the Internal Revenue Service.
The other 30 percent was funded through six other appropriations bills that were already passed and signed into law.
Before the breakthrough, border policy was a top sticking point with the White House initially rejecting a Republican proposal to keep DHS funded for FY 2024 at FY 2023 levels.
According to The Hill, Democrats wanted more money for pay equity for Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employees, while Republicans wanted more money for border security.
"An agreement has been reached for DHS appropriations, which will allow completion of the FY24 appropriations process," said House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) in a statement. "House and Senate committees have begun drafting bill text to be prepared for release and consideration by the full House and Senate as soon as possible."
President Biden said he would “immediately” sign the package once passed by Congress.
Up Against the Clock
House rules stipulate that leadership needs 72 hours for members to review the text of a bill, meaning that lawmakers could be working through the weekend. Then, it would need consent of all 100 senators to quickly schedule a vote–something that can be extremely difficult, especially over funding legislation.
All this raises the possibility of a very short continuing resolution or a short shutdown.
Meanwhile, Speaker Johnson will likely rely on Democratic votes to get the bills through, as he has for other funding bills.
Members of the more conservative Freedom Caucus are still upset with the Speaker over border funding. “At some point, border security has to be more than something aspirational that we simply message on,” the Freedom Caucus wrote.
