Staff Reports
House Republican leaders have laid out an aggressive plan to get their spending bills passed this summer. They want to make sure the budget is all set before the November election, so they won’t have any more disagreements within their party like last year.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise announced the proposed schedule to the rest of the GOP during a private meeting on Wednesday. He wants to finish all 12 spending bills by August 1, starting with Military Construction and Veterans Affairs in the week of June 3.
The House is planning to pass each of the 12 spending bills separately, according to Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole. This is a bold move as they want to avoid the chaos of a government shutdown before the October 1 deadline.
The timeline for passing these bills will also be a test for the House GOP. They want to show that they can lead and get government funding bills passed, especially because they couldn’t do so until six months into fiscal year 2024 last year. But, passing these bills could cause tensions within the party over controversial policy proposals.
The House Appropriations Committee shared its suggested funding limits last week. However, the overall numbers are less than what was agreed upon last year. The Senate may not be as quick to pass the bills, and they might even wait until after the November election to do so.
So, the House Republican leaders have set an aggressive schedule to get their spending bills passed this summer. They want to avoid any party disagreements and make sure the budget is set before the November election. They plan to get all 12 spending bills done by August 1, starting with Military Construction and Veterans Affairs in June. But, passing these bills might reignite tensions within the Republican party over controversial policies. The Senate may not be as quick to pass the bills, and could even wait until after the November election to do so.
