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The Senate is in session while the House is in recess this week.
The House worked over the weekend, passing the National Security Act, 2024 (H.R. 815). The emergency aid package passed with bipartisan support as four stand-alone bills (H.R. 8034, H.R. 8035, H.R. 8036, and H.R. 8038), which now heads to the Senate for final approval as one larger, consolidated package. Six months after President Biden requested the package, Congress is inching closer to passing the $95.3 billion supplemental spending bill, which includes $60.8 billion for Ukraine, $26.4 billion in aid to Israel and humanitarian aid to Gaza and other areas of conflict, $8.1 billion in support to Taiwan and other Indo-Pacific countries, and sanctions on Russia, Iran, and China. Finally, the bill forces the divestiture of Chinese-owned TikTok, or the social media app would receive a ban in the U.S. The House voted on all of these measures separately on Saturday, with strong bipartisan support for each bill.
On Tuesday, the Senate will reconvene at 10am ET to work quickly to pass the national security legislation now combined as one final package. Senators are giving up part of their recess week, so many expect them to bypass the 30-hour rule to finish voting by Tuesday evening. There is opposition from both sides of the aisle, including a push for an amendment process and procedural motions. If Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) opts for amendments, expect Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) to offer an amendment to ensure that loan provisions to Ukraine are repaid toward the national debt and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) to offer an amendment providing stipulations for the Israeli aid portion of the package. All of the amendments offered will likely be rejected, sending the bill to President Joe Biden’s desk to be signed into law after final passage occurs.
As a critical part of the government funding cycle, Congress will begin working on the 12 appropriations bills for Fiscal Year 2025. The Senate last week released guidance and deadlines for Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS) requests for FY 2025. Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Patty Murray (D-Wash.) shared the guidance highlighting minimal changes and deadlines for members to submit requests to the committee, with deadlines ranging from May 8 to May 15. Newly minted House Appropriations Committee Chair Tom Cole (R-Okla.) has been vocal about changes to the Community Project Funding (i.e., the CDS equivalent in the House) process, avoiding “political” project requests. Chair Cole acknowledged that because Congress is quickly falling behind on the process, changes to the CPF process would be limited. Still, it is reported that House Republicans may remove a critical account for many non-profit organizations, the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Economic Development Initiative (EDI) account. Removing the EDI account for non-profits would result in a major shift in earmarks for many organizations around the country. In FY 2024, the HUD EDI account funded nearly $3.3 billion worth of projects ($2.2 billion originating in the House) and was the largest source of earmarks. After the House banned all earmarks in the Labor-HHS-Education subcommittee bill for FY 2024, many lawmakers turned to the EDI account to fill the void for cities, counties, other local government agencies, and nonprofits.
When Congress returns on April 29, the two chambers will have until Friday, May 10 to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for five years. While the full House already passed its version of the bill last July, the Securing Growth and Robust Leadership in American Aviation Act (H.R. 3935), only the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee has, thus far, advanced the Senate’s version of the legislation, the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024 (S. 1939). Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) recently indicated that she and Ranking Member Ted Cruz (R-Texas) have been “making real progress in the negotiations.” Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Commerce’s Aviation subcommittee chair, on Thursday said right now negotiations are happening between leadership and the so-called “four corners” of Commerce and the House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee (Cantwell, Cruz, and T&I Committee Chair Rep. Sam Graves [R-Mo.] and Ranking Member Rep. Rick Larsen [D-Wash.]) and that subcommittee chairs like herself are not involved.
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