House GOP seeks to avoid last-minute scramble with ambitious schedule to pass spending bills – Washington Examiner

House Republican leaders have unveiled an aggressive schedule to pass their annual spending bills over the summer, hoping to get the budget finalized before the November election and avoid a repeat of the intraparty fallout that resulted in last year’s appropriations process

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) announced his proposed schedule to GOP lawmakers during a closed-door meeting on Wednesday morning that would complete all 12 appropriations bills in June and July, starting with Military Construction and Veterans Affairs in the week of June 3. Under the schedule, lawmakers would be finished by Aug. 1

Lawmakers have already begun the process of drafting legislation, with appropriators expected to mark up the first spending bill on Thursday. 

The House will move forward with its plans to pass each of the 12 appropriations bills separately, according to Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole (R-OK). That would put lawmakers on an ambitious path forward as they look to avoid another government shutdown scramble ahead of the Oct. 1 deadline. 

“We’re going to have to have near unanimity to be able to pass these bills, and that’s a challenge,” Cole said. 

In closed-door meeting today, Scalise broke down schedule for 2025 approps bills, per source familiar

Week of 6/3: MilCon/VA
Week of 6/10: NDAA
Week of 6/24: Homeland/DOD
Week of 7/8: Leg
Week of 7/22: CJS, AG, Interior, FSGG
Week of 7/29: Energy and Water, THUD, Labor/HHS

— Cami Mondeaux (@cami_mondeaux) May 22, 2024

The ambitious timeline will also serve as a test for the House GOP as they look to prove their leadership ability to pass government funding bills despite not being able to do so last year until six months into fiscal 2024. The appropriations bills are also likely to reignite intraparty tensions over controversial policy proposals that plagued House Republicans last year. 

Proposed policies, such as a ban on mail-delivery abortion pills and cuts to Democrats’ signature climate bill, have split GOP lawmakers, particularly those seeking reelection in competitive districts. 

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The House Appropriations Committee unveiled its proposed funding limits last week, with the overall totals coming in under the top-line agreement that was set during negotiations last year. But that proposal is unlikely to make it far in the Senate where party leaders from both sides of the aisle have expressed a desire for higher allocations. 

Even if the House does manage to pass all 12 of its appropriations bills before its annual August recess, it’s not clear whether the Senate will act with such haste. Senate leaders and the White House could seek to delay the process until after the November election when it’s more clear who will be president in 2025 and which party will be in control of the upper chamber.

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