The House’s lead appropriator on Tuesday released text of a stopgap funding bill to keep the government open through Dec. 23, as Congress aims to complete a deal on full-year spending legislation.
The one-week continuing resolution (CR) arrives as Congress faces a looming government shutdown deadline this Friday.
“Final fiscal year 2023 government funding bills are critical to supporting the programs and policies that make the biggest impact on people all over America. While we are close to a final agreement to create American jobs, help working families with the cost of living, and protect our national security, we need additional time,” Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), chair of the House Appropriations Committee, said in a statement. “This continuing resolution simply extends funding through December 23 to allow federal programs to keep operating as we continue working to complete the appropriations process and enact a final funding package.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on Monday that appropriators over the weekend “held positive and productive conversations, enough that both sides are moving forward in good faith to reach a deal even if it’s not going to be everything that both sides want” (Defense Daily, Dec. 12).
Congress previously passed a CR to keep the government open through Dec. 16 as it works to complete final budgets for FY ‘23, while the move sets spending at the previous fiscal year’s funding levels and prohibits the Pentagon from initiating new programs (Defense Daily, Sept. 30).
The House Appropriations Committee voted 32 to 26 in June to approve its $761.7 billion FY ‘23 spending bill for the Pentagon (Defense Daily, June 22).
In late July, the Senate Appropriations Committee released its plan to spend $850 million on defense-related programs in FY ‘23, to include $792.1 billion for the Pentagon (Defense Daily, July 28).
During his remarks on the Senate floor, Schumer said the upper chamber is likely to take up both the one-week CR and the final version of the fiscal year 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) this week.
The House voted 350 to 80 last week to pass the $858 billion FY ‘23 NDAA, which includes a $45 billion topline increase and a provision that would allow the Pentagon to buy select critical munitions using multi-year contracts (Defense Daily, Dec. 8).