After clearing the Senate yesterday by a 67-28 margin, H. R. 3877, the two-year spending deal, was signed into law earlier today by the president.
The law increases the discretionary spending levels for FY2020 and FY2021, effectively ending the last two years of potentially draconian spending cuts called for by the Budget Control Act of 2011. It also suspends the debt limit until July of 2021.
With the August recess scheduled to start this weekend serving as the impetus, the House will take up later today the two-year budget deal that was agreed to by the Congressional Democrats and the White House.
The agreement would, among other things, increase the debt limit as well as raise the spending caps on discretionary programs for next year and the year after. Although the two sides agreed to the deal, several members of Congress have noted that nothing is certain until the legislation is actually signed into law by the President.
The Senate is scheduled to take up the measure next week, before it goes into recess for the month of August.
Following a series of phone calls and in-person negotiations, an agreement was reached last evening that would, if signed into law, raise both the debt limit and the spending levels for next year and FY2021. Shortly after President Trump announced that a deal was agreed to, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-NY) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) confirmed the announcement.
The deal addresses two different issues. First, it would increase debt limit for two years and, in theory, push the issue into 2021, after the next election cycle.
Second, the deal would also increase the spending limits for FY2020 and FY2021. Without such a deal, budget caps below the current level of spending would need to be imposed for the next two years.
As a result of the new deal, spending levels next year and the year after would increase by a total of $321 billion and $77 billion of that would partially be offset by extension of certain fees and accounting changes.
For FY2020, spending on defense programs would be increased to $738 billion, a 3.1-percent increase above the current level. Non-defense discretionary programs are slated to receive a total of $632 billion, 4.5 percent above the current level. In FY2021, defense spending would increase to $740.5 billion and spending on non-defense would go up to $634.5 billion.
While the deal has been publicly endorsed by the Trump White House and the Congressional Democrats, it must still be signed into law. With the House scheduled to go into a six-week recess starting this weekend and the Senate expected to follow suit next Friday, Congressional leadership is trying to get the measure enacted by the House Thursday, which would allow the Senate to act before its August recess.
Read more about the negotiations and the deal here, here, and here.
After completing its debate that was carried over from last week, the House adopted earlier this afternoon its second “minibus” package of spending bills by a vote of 227 to 194. The approved legislation, H.R. 3055, includes five of the 12 FY2020 spending bills: Commerce-Justice-Science; Agriculture; Interior and the Environment; Military Construction-Veterans Affairs; and Transportation-Housing and Urban Development. This means that the House has now cleared a total of nine appropriations bills.
In another demonstration of how unusual the current political times are, the House is expected to take up today H. J. Res. 46, a resolution disapproving President Trump’s decision to declare a national emergency to build a wall along the Southern border. The measure is expected to pass easily in that chamber. The remaining question in the House appears to be whether it will pass with enough votes to overturn a presidential veto. Should the resolution reach the his desk, the President has vowed to veto it, which would mark his first veto in office.
If the resolution passes the House, the Senate would be required to take it up and it would only require a majority for passage. With all Senate Democrats expected to support it, the question now is whether enough Republicans will join them to garner its passage. So far, three Republicans have declared their support for the resolution: Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Susan Collins of Maine, and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. Only one more would be needed for passage, but that would not be enough to make it veto-proof.
Read more about the issue here and here.
Meanwhile, in other news, former Trump attorney Michael Cohen is scheduled to appear before three different Congressional committees this week, starting with the Senate Intelligence Committee today. Tomorrow, he is expected to testify on the House side, before both the House Oversight Committee and the House Intelligence Committee. Only his appearance before the Oversight Committee is expected to occur in a public setting. Read more about the Cohen situation here and here.