Category: Budget

Yesterday, the House approved a $1 trillion continuing resolution (CR) to keep the government funded through December 11, 2014. The 21-page CR would fund the government at an annual rate of $1.012 trillion. The 319-108 vote sends the bill to the Senate, which is also expected to approve the measure. The Senate will start considering the House-passed CR this afternoon and there could be more than four hours of debate before final passage in the Senate.

The measure was approved in the House after lawmakers first voted to add language authorizing a program to train and equip moderate Syrian rebel groups to fight the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). The measure also includes additional funding to fight the Ebola epidemic, to assist the Department of Veterans Affairs, and to beef up support for the Commodity Supplemental Food Program, which helps low-income people obtain nutritious food. Finally, the bill extends the charter for the Export-Import Bank, which backs US exports, through June 30, 2015. No new funding for border-related issues is included in the bill.

The legislation fulfills the guidelines of the budget agreement reached by budget committee chairmen Congressman Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) last December, and comes after both chambers failed to pass all 12 individual appropriations measures. The House had passed seven FY 2015 appropriations bills under an open amendment process, while the Senate did not pass any.

With action taken on the CR, Congress will adjourn until after the November elections, returning to work on November 12th. At that time, they will begin negotiating a final FY 2015 omnibus measure before the new December 11th deadline.

The House is expected to vote on Wednesday or Thursday on the FY 2015 Continuing Resolution (CR) to keep federal government funded through December 11^th. The Senate hopes to follow that with a vote by the end of the week. This will allow members to vacate the Capitol until after the November elections. But first the House has to pass the measure, which is not without controversy. The measure will likely include an amendment that would authorize the Obama administration to train and arm Syrian rebels against the insurgent terrorist organization known as ISIS, though some lawmakers would like to give the President broader authority to use force. Disagreements also linger on the length of the CR as well as an extension of the Export-Import Bank’s charter.

A defeat on the measure would force the leaders to scramble to find another way to move a CR to avoid a shutdown when the new fiscal year begins October 1st.

The House has postponed consideration of their FY 2015 continuing resolution (CR) to give members more time to review a White House request to arm Syrian rebels. It appears that they will not take action on the CR until next Wednesday, which could push the final action on the spending measure right up to the October 1st deadline. In addition to concerns about whether to authorize administration action against the Islamic State terrorist group, there are also concerns about a planned extension of the Export-Import Bank and a dispute over the length of the continuing resolution.

By delaying the vote until midweek, GOP House leaders may be seeking the upper hand over the Democrat-controlled Senate in shaping the final bill. With the House adjourning at the end of next week until after the mid-term elections, the Senate would have almost no time to make changes to the legislation and send the revisions back to the House before the chamber’s lawmakers adjourn. It could leave the Senate with little choice but to accept the deal, or be seen as forcing a government shutdown when the new fiscal year begins October 1st.

It is still too early to know if any shutdown threat actually exists, but lawmakers will need to work quickly in a short period of time to avoid that situation. The House appears to be sticking (for now) to their scheduled break at the end of next week. The Senate had hoped to adjourn by September 23rd but the delay may require them to come back in the last few days of September to take final action.

Congress returns to the Capitol today after a month-long recess period. The top order of business this month is passing a short-term funding bill to avoid a government shutdown on October 1st – and they have as little as two weeks in the current work schedule to get that done. House Republican leadership wants to move a stopgap funding bill, also known as a continuing resolution (CR), that lasts through early December. The Senate is expected to follow shortly afterward. Such a stopgap is expected to do little more than extend fiscal 2014 spending levels and policy directives (PL 113-76) through December 11th or 12th. Reaching a final agreement on FY15 spending will be work for the lame-duck session of Congress in November.