|
After the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, both chambers are back in session today. On Saturday, lawmakers agreed to a new two-tiered funding stopgap bill with only a few days remaining before a partial federal government shutdown is set to occur. On Friday at midnight, in the absence of enactment of a new CR, the government would face a partial shutdown for multiple agencies, including the Departments of Agriculture, Energy, Housing and Urban Development, Transportation, and Veterans Affairs.
House and Senate leaders from both parties released the text of the Further Additional Continuing Appropriations and Other Extensions Act, 2024 (H.R. 2872) which would extend enacted FY23 funding levels for federal agencies in the Agriculture-FDA, Energy & Water, Military Construction-Veterans Affairs, and Transportation-HUD Appropriations bills from January 19 to Friday, March 1. The remaining federal funding for the other eight appropriations bills would provide government funding from February 2 to Friday, March 8. A short-term partial shutdown is still possible if lawmakers object to fast-tracking the CR through both chambers over the next three days. As Congress works to pass a CR this week, House and Senate Appropriators are working to negotiate final versions of all 12 full FY24 appropriations bills. However, they are still awaiting 302(b) allocations for each of the 12 bills. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) announced he will place the legislation on the Senate floor today for an initial procedural vote.
Last week, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) received pushback from hardline conservatives in the House Republican Conference on his decision to renegotiate the FY24 topline number deal. Members of the House Freedom Caucus pushed for the Speaker, who is attempting to thread the needle with his party and its slim majority, to alter the agreed-upon topline numbers of $1.659 trillion. Still, Speaker Johnson said, “Our top line agreement remains.” The agreement of a short-term CR places emphasis on lawmakers finalizing FY24 government funding prior to April, since FY24 funding would receive automatic one-percent across-the-board-cuts as stipulated by the 2023 Financial Responsibility Act. Today, President Joe Biden invited Congressional leaders to the White House to discuss immigration and Ukraine aid on Wednesday. Negotiators will attempt to reach an agreement on military aid for Ukraine in exchange for increased border security funding. The House Speaker is sure to push for the inclusion of the House-passed border legislation, Secure the Border Act of 2023 (H.R. 2), a hard sell for Democrats.
Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and House Ways and Means Committee Chair Jason Smith (R-Mo.) recently announced their Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act of 2024. The agreement includes a deal to expand the Child Tax Credit and undo three restrictions on tax breaks for businesses. The $80 billion deal also includes a provision to expand the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, raising the credit’s ceiling from 9 percent to 12.5 percent through 2025.
The House will consider six bills under suspension of the rules. The House is scheduled to vote on the Pregnant Students’ Rights Act (H.R. 6914), which requires institutions of higher education to disseminate information on the rights of, and accommodations and resources for, pregnant students; the Supporting Pregnant and Parenting Women and Families Act (H.R. 6918), which prohibits the Secretary of Health and Human Services from restricting funding for pregnancy centers; and a resolution (H. Res. 957) denouncing the Biden Administration's “open-borders policies, condemning the national security and public safety crisis along the southwest border, and urging President Biden to end his administration's open-borders policies.” The Senate will vote on S.Res.504, which requests information on Israel's human rights practices pursuant to section 502B(c) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961.
For the remainder of the week, the House will hold several hearings, including: a House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee hearing titled “The State of Transportation;” a House Small Business Committee hearing titled “Unleashing Main Street's Potential: Examining Avenues to Capital Access;” an Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing titled “The Next Generation: Empowering American Nuclear Energy.” The Senate will also hold various hearings, including a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing on “Addressing Long COVID: Advancing Research and Improving Patient Care;” and a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on “Five Years of the First Step Act: Reimagining Rehabilitation and Protecting Public Safety.” The Joint Economic Committee will hold a hearing on “Rebuilding the American Dream: Policy Approaches to Increasing the Supply of Affordable Housing.”
| 
