House Passes FY18 Appropriations Omnibus

The House passed a $1.23T spending bill (H.R. 3354) that funds the government for FY18, which begins on October 1. The bill was passed by a vote of 211 to 198 with one Democrat (Rep. Peterson – MN) voting in favor of passage and 14 Republicans voting against passage (Reps. Amash – MI, Biggs – AZ, Brooks – AL, Buck – CO, DeSantis – FL, Duncan – TN, Jones – NC, Katko – NY, LoBiondo – NJ, Massie – KY, Messer – IN, Rokita – IN, Sanford – SC, and Sensenbrenner – WI). The bill doesn’t stand a chance in the Senate as Democrats are expected oppose it if it came to the floor as it violates the statutory cap on defense spending by $72B. If it were to become law it would trigger across-the-board sequestration cuts to defense programs of about 13 percent. The measure also includes some “poison pills” that Democrats object to, including funding for the President’s wall on the Southwest border.

The Senate Appropriations Committee has marked up and reported out eight of their 12 annual spending bills, but none have been considered on the Senate floor. The committee will not consider any bills next week because of the shortened work week.

Congress passed a short-term continuing resolution (CR) funding the government for FY18 from October 1 through December 8 and the President signed it into law. Congress now needs to come up with a final FY18 spending deal by December 8. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that the President will demand an increase in defense spending when he and Congress negotiate the end-of-the-year budget deal. Democrats are likely to require an equal raise in non-defense spending in order for their votes on any deal.

Status of FY18 Appropriations Spending Bills