Overview
The Topline:
Where are the 302(b)s?: Though Congress bought more time to reach a spending deal with the passage of a CR last week, progress towards assigning the subcommittee spending allocations, known as the 302(b) allocations, continues to stall. The holdup remains between Appropriations Chairs Murray and Granger and is primarily tied to funding needed for the Supplemental bill. We are hearing from top Appropriations staff that if 302(b)s aren’t finalized next week, they’ll have difficulty passing the bills by the new CR deadlines. We don’t bet. But, if we did, we’d put our money on getting the 302(b)s by this time next week.
Supplemental aid chaos: Meanwhile, negotiations on the border security/foreign aid deal were thrown into disarray this week after former President Trump made it clear that he opposes the deal – solidifying conservative opposition to the still-to-be-released legislation. Senate Minority Leader McConnell signaled that the bill is won’t pass the Senate due to former President Trump’s opposition (though he later softened this rhetoric), and Speaker Mike Johnson sent a “Dear Colleague” on Friday indicating that “if rumors about the contents of the draft proposal are true, it would have been dead on arrival in the House anyway.” Bipartisan negotiators have indicated that the deal is essentially done, but the longer it remains unfinished, the more the goal posts will move. Given all of these dynamics, we expect the package may become a victim of election year politics.
House:
- Jan. 25 - Department of Homeland Security funding has emerged as a key sticking point slowing down the talks between top appropriators trying to hammer out final spending agreements for fiscal 2024. House Republicans are pushing for a higher DHS subcommittee allocation than Senate Democrats, who want that money to be spent on other nondefense priorities, sources familiar with the talks say. Roll Call
- Jan. 24 - Lawmakers are starting to get antsy about funding deadlines in early March as negotiations on bill-by-bill dollar amounts drag on for weeks, eating into the extra time members gave themselves with a recent stopgap measure. BGOV
- Related: Appropriators need to reach a fiscal 2024 subcommittee allocation agreement this week to be able to comfortably finish the process by March 1, when about 20 percent of government funding will lapse, according to appropriations veterans familiar with the schedule. CQ News
- Jan. 24 - House Budget Chair Jodey Arrington (R-TX) says he wants the House to pass a bill from Reps. Bill Huizenga (R-Mich.) and Scott Peters (D-Calif.) that would create a fiscal commission to study spending as part of looming appropriations legislation. Politico Pro
Senate:
- Jan. 25 - Bipartisan Senate deal to pair border enforcement measures and Ukraine aid faced potential collapse as Senate Republicans grew increasingly wary of an election-year compromise that Donald Trump, the likely Republican presidential nominee, seems likely to oppose. Associated Press
- Related: Inside a special closed-door Republican meeting, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., cast doubt on an emerging deal to tighten immigration laws, citing GOP opposition to its provisions and telling senators that linking the two measures could also sink Ukraine aid. NBC News
- Jan. 23 - Influential senators called for Congress to take up emergency supplemental appropriations soon to bankroll the U.S. military’s expanding operations in the Middle East. CQ News
- Jan. 23 - A dispute over humanitarian aid for Gaza and the West Bank has become the latest snag in efforts to reach a bipartisan deal on a war funding and border security package. CQ News
Next Week
Hearings
- Jan. 31 – House Budget Committee: Creating a Culture of Fiscal Responsibility: Assessing the Role of the Congressional Budget Office
