WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congressional leaders announced a deal to keep additional government agencies funded through the remainder of the fiscal year.
The announcement comes just a few weeks after the first of two deadlines was met to avoid a partial government shutdown.
“An agreement has been reached for DHS appropriations, which will allow completion of the FY24 appropriations process. House and Senate committees have begun drafting bill text to be prepared for release and consideration by the full House and Senate as soon as possible,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson (R- LA) on X Tuesday morning.
Even though an agreement has been reached, many pieces of this large budget puzzle must still come together. The spending bills still need to be drafted, reviewed and then voted on, all before Friday’s deadline.
“Senate and House leaders and the White House have reached an agreement to finish the final set of full year appropriations bills. The Senate and House Appropriations Committees are in the process of finalizing text and reports for Congress to closely review and consider ASAP,” wrote Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D- NY) on X.
Funding will expire Saturday morning for the departments of State, Defense, Homeland Security (DHS), Labor and Health and Human Services and other agencies. Most of the funding bills were resolved by the end of last week, except for the Dept. of Homeland Security bill. There was, and still remains, a lot of partisan division over the DHS bill.
Democrats sought more funding for border security and enforcement, whereas Republicans wanted core changes to the department, like those outlined in H.R. 2. Many of which were Trump-era immigration policies.
Many hard-right Republicans have come out in opposition to the DHS spending bill and the larger appropriations package all together. However, leaders are hopeful there will be enough bipartisan support to get this done, and quickly.
Speaker Johnson said the text would be released and considered by the full House and Senate as soon as it is ready.
This has been a very delayed budget process for Congress. The funding deadline for the next fiscal year is already right around the corner at the end of September.
