Update on Government Funding for Fiscal Year 2024

SUMMARY:  With government funding set to expire on September 30, House Republicans continue to push for significant funding cuts and controversial policy riders in any FY 2024 funding package or short-term Continuing Resolution, leading to growing fears of a government shutdown. 

Government funding is set to expire on September 30, but some House Republicans continue to push for significant cuts to agency funding and other controversial policy riders in any full-year FY 2024 funding package or short-term Continuing Resolution (CR), leading to growing fears of a government shutdown.

In June, Congress passed a compromise bill negotiated by President Biden and House Speaker McCarthy (R-CA) that suspended the debt ceiling until at least January 1, 2025, and placed limits on discretionary funding for the next two fiscal years.  Specifically, the bill increased defense spending by about 3 percent next year, while non-defense spending remained essentially flat, averting enormous cuts to key programs and investments that would have occurred if forced to return to FY 2022 levels as proposed by legislation passed earlier by House Republicans.  The agreement also gave Congress some encouragement to pass their annual appropriations bills rather than simply sidestep the new budget caps with a full-year CR.  If the 12 spending bills are not passed by year’s end, a 1% spending cut would be enforced and applied evenly to defense and non-defense accounts to keep the pressure bipartisan.

Throughout the summer, House and Senate Appropriations Committees have been working on the 12 appropriations bills.  Although the Senate bills have been largely bipartisan and based on the funding levels in the agreement, House Republicans have moved forward with bills that include significant funding cuts that go beyond those agreed to in the debt limit deal.  Given the significant difference between the funding levels in the House and Senate bills, additional time is needed for negotiations over FY 2024 funding levels.

On Sunday, House Republicans unveiled a proposed stopgap funding measure that would keep the government open through October 31, while cutting 8.1% from agencies except for defense agencies and the Department of Veterans Affairs.  This would make it harder for most NTEU-represented agencies to meet their missions and serve the American people. 

The House Republican CR also includes provisions of the House-approved Secure the Border Act, HR 2, which would, among other things, move all migrant processing to ports of entry without providing any additional resources or funding for additional CBP Officers, while making it much harder for CBP to process asylum claims at ports of entry by blocking its use of certain technology, like the CBP One app. 

The bill does include a provision NTEU supports that would extend an increase in federal wildland firefighter pay that is set to expire on October 1.  

Because the bill includes significant funding cuts and controversial provisions and does not include additional Ukraine aid or disaster relief funding, this proposal would not gain enough votes to pass the Senate.  In fact, given the slim majority held by House Republicans, it is unclear if this proposal can even pass the House, as several House Republicans have already come out against the measure.

As Congress continues to work on the outstanding funding issues, NTEU will continue to advocate against a shutdown and press for adequate funding for our agencies in a final funding agreement.  I will keep you updated on these developments.  For more information click here, and be on the lookout for grassroots alerts to your personal email.

                                                                                    Doreen P. Greenwald

                                                                                    National President