FUNDING BILLS ON THE LINE

At midnight on Friday, funding runs out for the remaining six FY 2024 annual spending bills: State – Foreign Operations, Defense, Homeland Security, Labor – Health and Human Services, Legislative Branch, and Financial Services – General Government. The package was supposed to be released this weekend, but significant conflicts prevented agreement on the Homeland Security bill. In fact, Congress was ready to concede to a year-long continuing resolution on Homeland Security until the president made clear his opposition to that strategy. If Congress is able to reach agreement and the package is released today, Thursday is the earliest the House could vote, based on House rules that provide 72 hours for members to review bills before they are brought to the floor. That gives the Senate very little time to act before a shutdown would occur. Slipping into the weekend will not cause any significant issues, however, as long as it doesn’t stretch into next week. We are watching how things shape up today, which should signal how Congress will proceed on the funding package. Adding to the urgency to complete work on the funding package is the fact that the House and Senate are both scheduled to depart on Friday for a two-week Easter recess and district work period, returning the week of April 8.

Additionally, Secretary Becerra will continue to testify in front of committees of jurisdiction to promote the president’s fiscal year 2025 budget. This week, he will testify before the House Ways and Means Committee and the House Appropriations Committee. He will continue to testify in front of additional committees in the coming weeks.

TODAY’S PODCAST

Debbie Curtis and Rodney Whitlock join Julia Grabo to discuss Friday’s deadline for the six remaining FY 2024 annual spending bills and what it means for healthcare priorities.