The House Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Subcommittee approved its FY2016 spending bill by voice vote, with all Democrats voting against the proposal. The panel earlier had rejected a dozen amendments in a series of voice votes, with partisan splits apparent over family planning and the implementation of the 2010 health law. However, members of both parties made it clear that they would like to see a new law passed to ease the cap now in place on most federal spending. The measure will be considered by the full appropriations committee next week.
Given the return of sequestration in full force for FY2016, the Labor-HHS panel may have little room to do more than tweak budget accounts. The current budget caps for discretionary spending will make it difficult to reward favored programs without making deep reductions elsewhere.
The Labor-HHS-Education bill may be the one bill that thwarts the Republicans’ goal of moving all 12 appropriations measures by the end of the federal fiscal year (September 30th). Because of the politically-contentious policies carried out through the bill – such as abortion, labor issues, and the Affordable Care Act – there are strong doubts that even GOP control of both the House and Senate can get Congress back in the habit of considering it beyond an omnibus spending package.
But there is a bit of a new dynamic this year, since the Labor-HHS bill funds agencies charged with facing some of the nation’s most pressing issues, including the lingering threat of Ebola, a resurgence of measles, and calls to move ‘cures’ through clinical trials faster. There’s interest in both parties in the budget and operations of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health.
Next week’s full committee mark-up of the Labor-HHS bill will likely be a repeat of yesterday’s subcommittee mark-up. We will see lots of amendments fall along party lines, and the underlying bill will remain largely unchanged from its current draft. And while the full House will likely approve the measure, action in the Senate is still in doubt as Democrats have vowed to block all FY2016 spending measures until a new budget deal is agreed on that will lift the spending caps.