Biden Enacts Legislation from Congress Amid Looming Shutdown
TL/DR –
President Joe Biden has signed a $460 billion package of spending bills to avoid a shutdown of many key federal agencies and continue normal operations. The legislation contains six annual spending bills and lawmakers are negotiating a second package of six bills to fully fund all federal agencies by a March 22 deadline. The package also details hiring more air traffic controllers and rail safety inspectors, increasing support for homeless veterans, preventing the sale of oil in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to China, and providing about $7 billion for a nutrition program for low-income women, infants, and children.
US President Biden Signs $460 Billion Spending Package
President Joe Biden approved a $460 billion federal agency spending package, sidestepping a government shutdown. The bipartisan deal signifies the halfway mark in concluding appropriations work for the fiscal year 2024.
The legislation involves six annual spending bills and has been praised for allowing agencies to resume regular operations. Negotiations for a second set of six bills, counting defense, are ongoing with a March 22 deadline for full funding.
“This bipartisan package exhibits that divided government can still achieve substantial progress,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. The legislation aims at hiring more air traffic controllers, boosting support for homeless veterans and offering federal firefighters a raise, among other provisions.
The Senate approved the bill with 75-22 votes. The need for such spending stemmed from a failure to agree on full-year spending, causing a reliance on a series of stopgap bills. The total discretionary spending for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30 is anticipated to be about $1.66 trillion.
Republicans managed to maintain non-defense spending relatively steady, but many were aiming for more significant cuts and policy victories. The House Freedom Caucus, composed of the GOP’s most conservative members, opposed both the first and the ongoing second spending package.
Democrats successfully deferred most policy riders intended by Republicans, including blocking new rules promoting access to the abortion pill mifepristone. They also managed to retain full funding for the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) nutrition program, amounting to approximately $7 billion, a $1 billion increase from the previous year.
Meanwhile, Republicans secured a few policy victories. Notably, one provision will prevent the sale of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to China, and another restricts the Justice Department from investigating parents voicing their opinion at local school board meetings.
“This isn’t the package I would have drafted,” said Sen. Patty Murray, Democratic chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee. Conversely, Sen. Rand Paul expressed concern over excessive compromise leading to excessive spending.
A consensus from both political parties is vital for any bill’s passage in a divided Congress and a Democratic-led White House. The legislation involves over 6,600 projects requested by lawmakers, costing around $12.7 billion.
However, a proposal by Sen. Rick Scott to eliminate the projects received only 32 votes, with 64 against. Despite the delay in passing the spending bills, Republicans view the process as an improvement as it breaks the cycle of passing all spending bills in one massive package.
The initial package focuses on funding for the departments of Justice, Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Interior, and Transportation, among others.
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