Last week, House Republicans elected Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) as Speaker. The pressing to-do list for the new speaker includes war-time aid and Fiscal Year 2024 appropriations with funding set to expire on November 17.
The House has already passed five of the 12 appropriations bills and plans to advance three more (Legislative, Interior-EPA and Transportation-HUD) this week. Expect to see floor amendments for the Transportation-HUD bill, as well as a floor vote.
Meanwhile, the Senate has not passed any of the 12 bills and is considering a minibus with three bills (Miliary Construction-VA, Agriculture-FDA and Transportation-HUD) this week. Any differences between House and Senate spending levels must be reconciled before the funding can be enacted.
Given the new leadership, short time frame and other pressing issues, we expect to see another short-term continuing resolution to buy members additional time to pass and reconcile the remaining spending bills.
