News and updates

On Wednesday night, the Senate passed a continuing resolution (CR) that will keep the government funded at current levels through December 20th, averting a federal government shutdown. The bill now goes to President Biden’s desk for signature.

The stopgap bill, which passed the Senate by a 78-18 vote on Wednesday, was introduced after Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) failed to push his original funding proposal through the House of Representatives. This first attempt at a CR, which would have funded the government for six months, included the highly controversial SAVE Act, a Trump-backed plan that would require voters to provide documentary proof of citizenship at the time of registration. The majority of Democrats, despite a handful facing tough reelection bids, opposed the SAVE Act, citing the fact that it is already a crime to register or vote as a noncitizen in all federal and state elections. Without Democratic support, Johnson’s plan was unable to pass the House due to a divided GOP caucus.

After his original plan failed to pass the House, Johnson was forced to strip the SAVE Act and bring a new, three-month spending plan to the floor. The new bill passed the House on a 341-82 vote, with all opposition coming from Republicans. This move did not come without risk for Johnson, whose predecessor Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) became the first Speaker of the House to be ousted from his post when, last year, he was forced to work with Democrats to fund the government. Immediately following this bi-partisan maneuver, members of the GOP’s right flank voted to remove McCarthy from the Speakership. Johnson has defended the current bi-partisan funding bill, claiming that a GOP-led shutdown this close to Election Day would be “political malpractice.”

Having averted a shutdown for three months, Congress will now go on recess, with the stage set for a budget showdown when they return in November. Johnson has claimed that he will not allow any omnibus funding bills, which are large spending bills that package many programs into one, onto the floor during the lame duck session in December. While this would be a break with recent congressional precedent, much of the planning for this session will depend on the outcome of the November elections. For now, however, the government remains funded.

Over the weekend, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) reached an agreement on FY24 topline spending which includes $886 billion in defense spending (3% increase over FY23) and $773 billion for discretionary funding (roughly the same as FY23).

There are two tight deadlines approaching: four of the twelve appropriations bills are funded through January 19 and the other eight are funded through February 2. There has been reports that Speaker Johnson could potentially agree to a short-term continuing resolution (CR) through March 1st so that the FY24 bills can be finalized. There is still a lot to be done, including writing the FY24 bills and working through disagreements on supplemental funding and other policy riders.

Read more about this here and here.

Both the Senate and the House have passed the FY24 NDAA this week, sending the package to President Biden. The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) sets the policy agenda and authorizes funding for the Department of Defense each year.

The final negotiated version of the FY24 NDAA authorizes $886 billion in national defense funding, an increase of $28 billion over last year, which includes both a 5.2% pay raise for military and $300 million for extended Ukraine Security Assistance (separate from the supplemental funding request), among other provisions. The legislation does not include two controversial provisions related to abortion and transgender health care access, which were included in the House version that passed this summer. Now that the NDAA is passed, the race is on to get the 12 appropriations bills passed before the short term continuing resolutions expire in January & February.

Read more about this here and here.

A new bipartisan bill was introduced in the House Education Committee on Tuesday that would allow Pell Grants to be used for short-term programs programs lasting eight weeks (currently, they can only be used for academic programs lasting at least 15 weeks). This would go into effect for the 2025-2026 school year. The bipartisan bill is co-sponsored by Rep. Virginia Foxx — a North Carolina Republican who chairs the House Committee on Education and the Workforce — and Rep. Bobby Scott — a Virginia Democrat and ranking member of the committee.

In order for a program to qualify, the Education Department would have to verify that programs maintain both completion rates and job placement rates of at least 70% and that there is a positive ROI, among other qualifications.

Chair Foxx has scheduled a committee markup on the bill for next Tuesday, Dec 12.

Read more about this here and here.