White House Warns of Consequences as Congress’ Appropriations Standoff Continues
In a press release on November 12, 2021, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) announced several administration priorities would be underfunded or misaligned if Congress fails to pass dedicated, full-year funding for fiscal year (FY) 2022. The report alleges several agencies will lose out on funding needed to address new and emerging priorities if the budget stalemate continues.
As previously reported in FEDmanager, Congress passed a continuing resolution (CR) funding the government at FY 2021 levels until December 3, 2021 to avoid a government shutdown in late September.
To secure funding for 2022 before the deadline, Congress must either pass full-year appropriations bills for FY 2022 or pass another CR to extend the previous year’s funding timeframe. It is also possible that Congress will pass a continuing resolution that covers the rest of FY 2022, despite the Biden administration's alleged reluctance.
According to OMB, a full-year CR rather than passing appropriations bills would create a staff shortage at the Social Security Administration (SSA) and would delay 114 new military construction projects at the Department of Defense (DOD). Further, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) would lose $1.6 billion in funding, and the Department of Agriculture (USDA) would have difficulty maintaining enough Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) employees at its meat and poultry plants.
Last month, the Senate outlined their funding priorities for FY 2022 but has not passed any bills yet. By contrast, the House has passed nine appropriations bills this year. However, there are no meetings scheduled for top appropriators in both chambers to continue bipartisan negotiations, according to Politico.
“The question is, will we kick the can to January, February or March?" stated Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL), "And then come March, when we haven’t done anything, will we kick it to July and then September?”
To negotiate funding, Republicans say Democrats must add or eliminate more than 30 items from their spending bills, including dropping wage requirements for federally funded projects and maintaining the Guantanamo Bay terrorist detention facility.
Democratic leaders do not need Republican support to pass the $1.75 trillion climate action and safety net spending package, but they will need 60 votes in the Senate to pass appropriations bills. A prolonged standoff on the topic would hamper Democrats' efforts to raise non-defense spending.
“I am disappointed that we have not yet been able to reach a ‘topline’ agreement on funding levels for FY 2022 with our Republican colleagues,” stated Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), “But I am hopeful that we can reach an agreement soon so that the committees can finalize their bills and we can consider a FY 2022 omnibus bill later this year.”
