President Biden & Speaker McCarthy Set to Meet Tuesday to Discuss the Debt Ceiling

Posted on May 8, 2023May 15, 2023

President Biden, Speaker McCarthy, and other congressional leaders are set to meet on Tuesday to discuss raising the debt ceiling amidst the ongoing political standoff and renewed urgency given the Treasury Department’s warning that the government could default on its debt as soon as June 1. House Republicans passed their debt ceiling bill last week that would increase the debt ceiling while cutting federal spending by more than $3.5 trillion over the coming decade. The plan would cut discretionary spending by an average of 18% over the next decade with little detail on which programs would be cut or spared. The New York Times estimates that if defense, veterans’ health, and border security are spared (which has been discussed), the remaining programs would have to be cut by half. The bill also includes provisions that repeal some of the Biden administration’ priorities including the plan to cancel student loan debt.

House Democrats meanwhile are calling for an increase in the debt ceiling without conditions (which was done multiple times during the Trump presidency) but the House Republicans claim they will not budge. Tuesday will be the first time in seven months that President Biden and Speaker McCarthy will meet to discuss this issue which will a critical to see if any progress can be made.

FY24 Appropriations Process Is Underway: President’s Budget Request is Released

Posted on March 23, 2023April 3, 2023

Earlier this month, the FY2024 President’s Budget Request (PBR) was released outlining the administration’s priorities for the coming fiscal year. The overall request is self-described as a blueprint to build on the past two years to “grow the economy from the bottom up and middle out by investing in America, lowering costs for families, protecting and strengthening Medicare and Social Security, and reducing the deficit by nearly $3 trillion over the next decade”.

The FY24 PBR included:

$8,215 per Pell Grant award (an $820 increase over FY23)
$21 billion in discretionary spending for CHIPS & Science-authorized activities including $1.2 billion for the Directorate of Technology Innovation and Partnerships (TIP)
$48.26 billion for NIH (an increase of 1.7% over FY23)
$2.5 billion for ARPA-H (a $1 billion increase over FY23)
$27.2 billion for NASA (a 7.1% increase over FY23), and
$11.3 billion for NSF (an 18.6% increase over FY23 enacted level of $9.5 billion)

Now the House and Senate will review the request and vote on a Budget Resolution that decides on topline numbers for discretionary funding. Here is where things could get tricky as the new divided Congress will likely have trouble coming to an agreement.

Check out a more complete list of programs and accounts on our updated appropriations tracker, including the FY24 budget request numbers, here. We will continue to add to this once more budget justifications are released and as the appropriations process continues.

House Still Making History

Posted on January 4, 2023

The House of Representatives is still making history today, failing to elect a Speaker after a fifth round of voting, which concluded just a few minutes ago. The last time the voting for Speaker among the House Members went beyond the first ballot was a hundred years ago. The level of opposition to Kevin McCarthy of California among the House Republicans actually grew between the first and the fifth votes.

Read more about the developments here, here, and here.

Something We Haven’t Seen in A Long Time…

Posted on January 3, 2023

As expected, the new 118th House of Representatives gathered earlier today to elect the new Speaker. Before the new Members gathered to vote, all of Washington knew that Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), who was the Minority Leader in the 117th Congress, was going to have a difficult time garnering enough support from the most hard-core rightwing of the House Republican caucus. The first vote for Speaker demonstrated exactly how difficult a path McCarthy faces.

With 218 voted needed to become Speaker, McCarthy received even fewer votes that many of his supporters had predicted: he received 203 votes, with 19 House Republicans opposing his Speakership. In fact, the new Democratic leader, Hakeem Jeffries of New York received more votes for Speaker, with a total of 212. For the first time in 100 years, the vote for Speaker is now headed to a second ballot.

Read more about the situation here, here, here, and here.

House Passes FY2020 Appropriations Measures

Posted on December 17, 2019

The House passed two spending packages of nearly $1.4 trillion to fund federal agencies through FY20. The current federal funding continuing resolution expires at midnight Friday.

The Senate is expected to clear the pair of bills for President Donald Trump’s signature later this week.

The bipartisan agreement provides $49 billion in extra funding across the government and includes sweeping policy provisions, including to raise the legal age of tobacco purchases to 21, reauthorize PCORI, extend the Ex-IM bank for seven years, and repeal of several health taxes in Obamacare.