The Topline:

Congress bought more time. The President will sign H.R. 2872, a new short-term CR, extending funding to March 1 and March 8 and keeping the original "laddered" approach of two tranches of bills. This gives appropriators six more weeks to finish the bills. Steptoe is sure there won't be another short-term CR, so if any of the bills remain incomplete by the deadline, we believe that particular bill will be funded to the end of the year by CR.

A wrinkle remains. Chairs Granger and Murray are still negotiating subcommittee allocations, known as the 302(b) allocations. Steptoe has heard the two chairs are steadily making progress, but time is of the essence. There was an unconfirmed rumor earlier that Homeland Security was part of the delay because of the supplemental negotiations. However, we think it's more of a difference between the House and Senate on priorities. Regardless, something needs to come together in the coming week.

Supplemental status? Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell indicated the Senate will vote on a supplemental aid package for Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan, and border funding next week, even as Speaker Johnson made clear his opposition to the leaked details during a call with House GOP members. In a bid to unlock aid, Speaker Johnson met with President Biden and Majority Leader Schumer at the White House and communicated the concerns of his conference. While this meeting does not appear to have moved the needle, Speaker Johnson told reporters that the meeting was "productive" but insisted strong border security policy needs to be the top priority in any agreement.

FY25 Already? At Steptoe we continue to hear that the president's budget will drop in mid-March. This budget request may lack justifications and additional details but would be enough for the House and Senate to begin hearings. We also hear the House Appropriations Committee will require Member projects to be submitted by a mid-March deadline. As a result, member office deadlines would be several weeks prior. Now is the time for clients to formulate their FY25 project requests.

House:

  • Jan. 18 - Congress on Thursday raced to send legislation to avert a partial government shutdown to President Biden, moving to fund federal agencies through early March one day before money was to run out. Over the strenuous opposition of far-right Republicans, the House voted 314 to 108 to approve the stopgap funding just hours after the Senate provided overwhelming bipartisan backing for the measure in a 77-to-18 vote, allowing lawmakers to narrowly beat a Friday deadline. Bill Text; New York Times
  • Jan. 17 - Speaker Mike Johnson previously said he wouldn't support another short-term funding extension, like the one the House aims to pass by the end of the week to avoid a partial shutdown on Saturday. But that vow only applied if congressional leaders failed to make any progress on fiscal 2024 funding bills, Johnson said today. And the bipartisan funding framework he rolled out with Schumer earlier this month represents progress. Politico Pro
  • Jan. 17 - House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer had a bipartisan glow about them Wednesday after they and other congressional leaders met with President Joe Biden, where they discussed Ukraine aid, border security, and elements of a deadlocked funding package. "We had a productive meeting," Johnson, R-La., told reporters minutes after the White House sit down ended. CNBC
  • Jan. 16 - Before lawmakers can negotiate the specifics of a final funding deal, they need to negotiate a set of allocations for all 12 annual appropriations bills. Appropriators hoped to get their bill-by-bill allocations by the end of the weekend, but lawmakers returned to Washington without a deal in hand. BGOV

Senate:

  • Jan. 18 - The Senate voted to pass a bill that would prevent a partial government shutdown this weekend and keep federal funds flowing through March 1 and March 8. The Democratic-led chamber voted 77-18 on final passage after considering a few amendments. Bill Text; NBC News
    • Related: The Senate rejected two proposals to tweak the continuing resolution. With a simple-majority bar, the chamber voted 13-82 on Sen. Roger Marshall's (R-Kan.) plan to resort to a so-called "full-year" stopgap that would extend government funding through September and trigger cuts to non-defense programs. With a 60-vote threshold, the Senate voted 44-50 on an amendment from Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) that would condition aid to Gaza. Politico Pro
  • Jan. 17 - Republican leader Mitch McConnell says he anticipates the supplemental bill with funding for Ukraine will be on the Senate floor next week. BGOV

Next Week

Hearings

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