Top Line Funding Agreement for FY 2024 Announced by Congressional Leaders

SUMMARY:  Congressional leaders announced an agreement on overall government funding levels for Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 that is in line with the debt ceiling agreement reached last year, but Congress still has a lot of work to do to avoid a partial government shutdown ahead of the first deadline next week. 

This week, congressional leaders announced that they reached an agreement on a top line spending amount for FY 2024 that is in line with the funding levels of the Fiscal Responsibility Act agreed to last year.  However, additional work is needed to finalize agreement on the specifics for each agency and programs and the Continuing Resolution (CR) to fund agencies at current FY 2023 levels expires next Friday, January 19, 2024, for USDA, FDA, DOE, and NRC.  The CR for the remaining NTEU-represented agencies expires on February 2, 2024.  For a complete list of which NTEU agencies’ funding expires on each date, click here.

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) announced late last year that he will not pass another short-term spending bill, but given the time constraints and the fact that a top line funding deal has been reached, it is expected that a short-term CR may be necessary to finalize the various appropriations bill. 

While we are glad that an agreement was reached that avoided the drastic spending cuts proposed in the various House appropriations bills, we still need Congress to act quickly to avoid a shutdown.  I sent the attached letter to congressional leaders today urging quick action to pass a full-year funding agreement that adequately funds agencies so that they can continue to deliver critical services to the American people.  At the same time, I urged them to reject efforts to include a fiscal commission in any final agreement.  In the past, similar commissions and super-committees have either failed to reach meaningful agreements or resulted in proposed cuts to benefits for the middle class and federal workers.  For example, Simpson-Bowles failed to reach agreement and ended up leading to a three-year federal pay freeze and reduced pay for those hired afterwards, ostensibly to pay for retirement benefits and an extension of unemployment benefits in 2011.  No other group of American citizens was asked to sacrifice in this way.

We must all remain engaged in this fight as work continues on Capitol Hill to provide full-year agency funding for the remainder of FY 2024 before the CR expires.  Click here to learn more.  I will keep you updated on any developments.