Late Night Hurdles Lead to 9-hour Shutdown; Government Now Funded Through March 23

Posted on February 9, 2018

Although there was a bipartisan agreement reached earlier this week on a two-year budget deal as part of the next short-term continuing resolution (CR), that did not mean that everyone was content. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), a frequent critic of government spending, delayed the consideration of the measure on the Senate floor until after midnight, which meant that the CR that had been in place through last night had expired. The expiration of that CR officially led to a government shutdown. After he allowed the vote to proceed, the Senate overwhelmingly passed the CR by a vote of 71 – 28.

After Senate passage, the CR had to be sent back to the House, where there was more uncertainty about the level of support for it, with many Democrats concerned about the lack of an agreement on immigration and many hard-line conservatives wary of spending on domestic programs. Ultimately, the House also passed the CR early this morning, by a vote of 240-186.

The measure was signed by the president at about 9 AM this morning, ending the shutdown.

Two-year budget deal reached in Senate

Posted on February 7, 2018

Today, the Senate reached a far-reaching bipartisan budget agreement that would set top-line spending limits for FY2018 and FY2019, which would be added to the continuing resolution (CR) passed by the House. The spending levels for the two years represent significant increases above what is currently allowed under the budget caps that were created in 2011.

Under the agreement, funding for non-defense discretionary programs would be increased by $63 billion in FY2018 and $68 billion in FY2019 while defense programs would see increases of $80 billion and $85 billion, respectively.

In addition, the deal includes an additional $2 billion for the National Institutes of Health over the next two years while also providing approximately $6 billion for the opioid crisis. The agreement calls for $20 billion in infrastructure investment among its other provisions.

The deal does not address Dreamers and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) announced earlier in the day that she would not support any funding deal until she gets a commitment from Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) to bring an immigration bill to the floor. The Senate agreement, which will be added to the short-term CR through March 23, must be sent back to the House and passed before midnight, Friday morning.

A budget deal on the horizon before a shutdown?

Posted on February 7, 2018

As expected, the House agreed to yesterday by a vote of 245 to 182 the next short-term continuing resolution (CR) that would keep the government funded through March 23. The current CR expires Friday morning at midnight. The House-passed CR would fund the Department of Defense for the rest of the year at $30 billion over what the budget cap allows for while keeping the majority of the non-defense discretionary programs funded only through the length of the CR. Senate Democrats, not surprisingly, have rejected the House approach.

One of the biggest reasons why the government has had to function through a series of short-term CRs is because of Congress’ lack of agreement on how much money should be available overall for FY2019. It appears that the two parties and the two chambers might be reaching an understanding on the “top line” for this year and next. While details have not yet been confirmed– with reports in the neighborhood of an increase for both defense and non-defense programs of $300 billion for two years– the Senate could very well strike the defense-only parts of the House-adopted CR and replace them with those that would set the new overall spending levels in its version of the CR.

Regardless of what the Senate does, unless it accepts the exact same legislative package as the House’s, the Senate language would need to return to the House for its consideration and adoption before the end of tomorrow in order to avoid a shutdown.

Still unresolved in all of this is the Dreamers situation. To end the shutdown back in January, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) committed to allowing the Senate to debate possible ways to address Dreamers if no solution was found before the expiration of the current CR.

Another CR Being Prepared

Posted on February 5, 2018

Not surprisingly, Congress is preparing to take up another short-term continuing resolution (CR) to keep the government funded past February 8, which is when the current CR expires.

While talks continue on the different issues related to this CR– including the lifting of the budget caps and a solution to the Dreamers situation– no agreement has been reached on the various moving pieces.

The CR currently under consideration would keep the government open through March 22.

Senate to Take Up HHS Nomination

Posted on January 24, 2018

The full Senate is scheduled to take up today the nomination of Alex Azar to serve as Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Azar is not a new-comer to the HHS as he served as Deputy Secretary during the George W. Bush Administration. He has recently been an executive at the pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and Co.

HHS funds and oversees a host of health-related and biomedical agencies and research programs. The National Institutes of Health is part of HHS.

Azar was nominated to replace former Secretary Tom Price, who resigned last year.