House GOP Unveils Potential Stopgap as Congressional Appropriations Deadline Approaches

Congress is back in session and the fiscal year (FY) 2024 appropriations process is underway. On September 17, House Republicans unveiled a draft continuing resolution (CR) that is set to be voted on later this week. The CR would extend the appropriations deadline from September 30 to October 31, and, under the proposal, nondefense discretionary spending would see an 8.1 percent cut excluding the Department of Veterans Affairs and disaster relief accounts while defense would see an increase. It is unlikely that the Democrats will support the bill, and several Republicans, including Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), Eli Crane (R-AZ), and Matt Rosendale (R-MT), have voiced concerns about the stopgap measure. With the House GOP’s slim majority, the bill will likely face opposition on the floor.

As previously reported, the House has passed the Military Construction-Veterans Affairs bill while the Senate continues to push for votes on all twelve completed appropriations bills. Last week, the Senate sought a vote on a package of three bipartisan appropriations bills but the process was halted by Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) in favor of reviewing them individually. The Senate has also reportedly been preparing a stopgap measure.

While a CR would extend the deadline and allow Congress to continue reviewing appropriations bills, the outlook is still uncertain due to the standoff between the two chambers. As previously reported by COSSA, the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS) bills in the two chambers have an 18.7 percent difference between them while the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (LHHS) bills differ by 32.7 percent. With the deadline rapidly approaching, Congress will need to pass a continuing resolution in the coming days to avoid a partial government shutdown.

Stay tuned for updates from COSSA on the appropriations process.