Congressional budget negotiators said they reached an agreement on an omnibus budget “framework” on Wednesday, paving the way to pass the first new spending levels under President Joe Biden before March 11.
Details of the agreement have not been released, and leaders say there is still more work to be done, but negotiators in both parties expressed optimism on the deal to fund the government through the end of fiscal 2022 on Sept. 30.
<mediadc-video-embed data-state="{"cms.site.owner":{"_ref":"00000161-3486-d333-a9e9-76c6fbf30000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b93390000"},"cms.content.publishDate":1644440531172,"cms.content.publishUser":{"_ref":"00000169-6d15-db52-af7b-7ddddd690000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"cms.content.updateDate":1644440531172,"cms.content.updateUser":{"_ref":"00000169-6d15-db52-af7b-7ddddd690000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"rawHtml":"
var _bp = _bp||[]; _bp.push({ "div": "Brid_44440322", "obj": {"id":"27789","width":"16","height":"9","video":"953388"} }); ","_id":"0000017e-e04b-dd76-a5fe-e4df28250000","_type":"2f5a8339-a89a-3738-9cd2-3ddf0c8da574"}”>Video Embed
House Appropriations Chairwoman Rosa DeLauro and Senate Appropriations Chairman Patrick Leahy announced the framework in a joint release.
PELOSI BENDS TO STOCK TRADING BAN PRESSURE BUT WANTS SUPREME COURT DISCLOSURE
“We will now proceed with great intensity to enact legislation making transformative investments to create good-paying American jobs, grow opportunity for the middle class, support the vulnerable who work hard, and protect our national security,” DeLauro said.
Leahy added that the agreement will “provide increases for health care, education, our national security, and invest in the middle class, among other priorities.”
Sticking points in getting to an agreement earlier included Republicans wanting military spending to be increased by the same proportion as nonmilitary spending and inclusion of the Hyde Amendment, the decades-old provision prohibiting federal funds from being spent on abortion services. The funding legislation needs support from at least 10 Republicans to pass in the Senate.
“I believe this is a breakthrough in a bipartisan way,” Senate Appropriations ranking member Richard Shelby, one of the four top budget negotiators, told reporters Wednesday.
“There’s a lot there’s still more to go,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told the Hill press pool. But negotiators, he said, are on a “good path.”
More than a year into Biden’s tenure, the government is still operating at spending levels set under former President Donald Trump, as Congress has opted to pass a series of continuing resolutions since the end of the federal government’s fiscal year on Sept. 30, 2021.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi noted that when the omnibus is enacted, it will “unlock the increased federal funding included in our bipartisan infrastructure law, which will transform our roads, bridges, water systems, airports, broadband, and more.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
On Tuesday, the House passed a continuing resolution to fund the government at current levels through March 11. Schumer said that he plans to pass the stopgap funding measure next week, avoiding a government shutdown when the current short-term funding extension expires on Feb. 18.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told reporters that he expects the House to work the week of March 7 to pass the omnibus bill.
