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wsj.com
House Approves Six Spending Bills, Leaving Six Still to Go
Katy Stech Ferek


WASHINGTON—House lawmakers voted Wednesday to pass a package of six
spending bills to fund a major swath of the federal government and avoid a partial shutdown this weekend, setting the stage for final negotiations
over the rest of the year’s budget after months of political wrangling.

The vote, 339-85, completes the budget process for a series of federal
agencies including the Agriculture, Justice, Transportation and Interior departments, which have been operating on temporary funding extensions
since the previous fiscal year ended on Sept. 30. The Senate is expected
to vote by the end of the week and send it to President Biden’s desk.

The bills authorize about $460 billion in federal agency spending through
the end of the current fiscal year. The overall spending for the year is
set at $1.6 trillion, an amount set last year as part of a debt-limit deal
made between President Biden and then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.).

The package of bills needed at least two-thirds of lawmakers’ support to
pass, under special provisions that allowed House Speaker Mike Johnson
(R., La.) to bypass internal Republican Party disagreements that have
dogged GOP leaders for months.

Negotiators are still arguing over provisions of the six remaining bills,
which include splitting up what is likely to be more than $800 billion in defense spending. Funding for agencies covered by those bills runs out
after March 22. Those bills are considered harder to finalize because they touch highly charged issues such as immigration.

Congressional leaders have spent months trying to complete the 12 annual
bills that fund the U.S. government. Under the most recent stopgap deal, lawmakers face a deadline of Friday to fund part of the government, and
March 22 for the rest.

The White House had urged lawmakers to vote in favor of the measure,
saying that “neither side got everything it wanted, but it would prevent a damaging shutdown of several key agencies.”

Both Democrats and Republicans claimed that they came out victorious in
this latest stage of drawn-out budget negotiations.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) said that Democrats scored
a major win in securing more than $7 billion for Agriculture Department-administered grocery-store assistance from the Special
Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, or WIC, program. House Republicans had proposed keeping the program’s funding flat
at $6 billion, the same amount as the prior year, in their version of the agency’s funding bill that failed to pass last fall.

Senate Democrats also said that they successfully fought for money for
critical safety measures such as new air-traffic controllers and rail
safety inspectors, while preserving funding for rental assistance for financially struggling people.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D., Conn.), the top Democrat on the House
Appropriations Committee, said at a press conference on Wednesday that
party leaders “defeated the vast majority of the extreme cuts and hundreds
of harmful policy riders” proposed by GOP lawmakers.

House Republicans said they played a valuable role in keeping federal
spending in check, including at agencies that they have criticized for
imposing harsh regulations on guns, the auto industry and polluting
factories.

Johnson highlighted a 7% reduction of $122 million for the Justice
Department’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives division
and a 6% reduction of $654 million for the Federal Bureau of Investigation
when compared with the prior fiscal year’s allocated amount.

He also touted a 10% reduction to the Environmental Protection Agency,
mostly attributable to a $745 million drop in money for its Superfund
cleanup sites, bringing its funding amount down to about $9.2 billion. The agency has been a target for Republicans who say its regulations on
developers near smaller streams and other drinking water sources,
restrictions on vehicle exhaust and limits on pollution from factories are overly burdensome.

Some of those cuts could have a smaller practical effect on the agencies’ operations. Last year’s ATF budget, for example, contained a $75 million one-time construction project expense. Additionally, the Superfund program could receive more than $1 billion in new tax revenue in 2024, softening
the blow of an appropriations reduction.

“The fiscal situation facing the nation requires Congress to make
significant spending reductions while maintaining strong commitments to
the safety, security and wellbeing of the American people,” said Rep. Hal Rogers (R., Ky.) in debate on the House floor before the vote.

Republicans in both chambers pointed to a policy win that they said
protects Second Amendment rights: a provision to block Veterans Affairs officials from reporting the names of some veterans with mental-health
issues to a national gun-purchase background-check system without a
judge’s finding that the person is a danger.

“Every veteran who bravely serves our country has earned VA benefits, and
it’s wrong for the government to punish veterans who get a helping hand to manage those resources,” said Sen. John Kennedy (R., La.), the provision’s
top proponent.

Sen. Chris Murphy (D., Conn.), who has pushed for stronger gun control,
said he would vote against the funding bills in protest of that provision.

But House Republicans were largely unable to negotiate provisions on
culture war issues such as same-sex marriage, critical race theory and workplace diversity initiatives into the final versions of the bills.

That includes a controversial provision that House Republicans included in their draft of the Agriculture funding bill that would have voided a
federal policy that allows patients to get mifepristone, a drug used to
induce abortion, directly from pharmacies rather than healthcare
providers. The provision isn’t included in the package of bills up for
passage.

In addition to the spending agreement, hundreds of pages outline community funding projects that lawmakers secured for their home states and
districts. House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (R., N.Y.)
secured millions in funding for fire stations and equipment for the
village of Saranac Lake in New York. Rep. Adam Schiff (D., Calif.), who on Tuesday advanced in his Senate race, expects to bring more than $12
million for his district.

Natalie Andrews contributed to this article.

Write to Katy Stech Ferek at katy.stech@wsj.com



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Anyone that isn't confused doesn't really
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~Edward R. Murrow USA WWII Correspondent ==================================================

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