Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson reached a deal on the federal budget on Sunday, and the agreement is already raising the ire of some fiscal conservatives, according to several reports.
The $1.6 trillion deal sets defense spending at about $886 billion for the current fiscal year, a number that the White House and former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy had reached while negotiating over the debt ceiling in the summer of 2023, according to Politico. The agreement will reportedly allow for $773 billion for spending not related to defense, a victory for Democrats that is already angering some members of the Republican caucus as the extended funding deadlines draw closer on the calendar.
Legislators now have 12 days to conduct further negotiations and lock in the final bill text, as available cash for numerous federal agencies will run out on Jan. 19, according to Politico. The funding for the military and several of the largest government programs will expire on Feb. 2, while Sunday’s breakthrough may reduce the chances of an eventual shutdown, a host of contentious issues, including potential reforms to address the crisis unfolding at the southern border, remain unresolved.
A $1659 topline in spending is terrible & gives away the leverage accomplished in the (already not great) caps deal. We’ll wait to see if we get meaningful policy riders… but 1) the NDAA was not a good preview, & 2) as usual, we keep spending more money we don’t have.
— Chip Roy (@chiproytx) January 7, 2024
Beyond the border, questions still remain about the form that military aid packages to Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan could take, according to Politico.
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