The White House and leaders from both sides of the aisle on Capitol Hill said today they have reached an agreement on funding amounts for the remaining six appropriations bills that will provide money for the Federal government to operate through the end of fiscal year (FY) 2024 which ends on Sept. 30.
As of late Tuesday, however, details on the particulars of the six bills were scarce, including top-line totals for Federal agencies and major programs.
House and Senate leaders only said that an agreement was in place to move the six bills forward and hopefully avoid a shutdown of about 70 percent of Federal agency operations as of midnight on Friday, when current funding is due to run out.
“Senate and House leaders and the White House have reached an agreement to finish the final set of full year appropriations bills,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., today. “The Senate and House Appropriations Committees are in the process of finalizing text and reports for Congress to closely review and consider as soon as possible.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., was similarly brief, saying, “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.”
For his part, President Biden said today, “we have come to an agreement with Congressional leaders on a path forward for the remaining full-year funding bills.”
“The House and Senate are now working to finalize a package that can quickly be brought to the floor, and I will sign it immediately,” he said.
On March 9, President Biden signed off on the first of two batches of six appropriations bills to fund operations for several agencies – including the Departments of Transportation, Agriculture, Housing and Urban Development, and Veterans Affairs – through Sept. 30. Those bills account for about 30 percent of annual Federal discretionary spending.
Today’s announcement of an agreement on the remaining six appropriations covers the remaining 70 percent of Federal discretionary spending and agencies including the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security, Commerce, and Justice.
Based on the first set of six FY2024 appropriations bills approved earlier this month, top-line funding levels are hewing to the terms of the Fiscal Responsibility Act approved by Congress in June 2023.
That law increased the U.S. national debt limit through early 2025, allows for a 3.3 percent increase in defense spending for FY2024, caps Federal non-defense discretionary spending in FY2024 close to FY2023 levels, and limits non-defense spending increases to one percent in FY2025.
