“This has been quite a day,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters to kick off a Wednesday afternoon press conference. It has been — and it’s not over yet.
Lawmakers rolled out a sweeping $1.5 trillion spending bill, looking to have the House pass it quickly, but Democratic leaders faced a revolt over the source of $15.6 billion in additional pandemic funding, forcing them to yank that money from the larger package. The decision should clear the way for the House to pass the annual spending bill tonight, but it means the additional Covid money is very much in doubt.
Here’s how the action has unfolded so far and what it all means. One thing that’s clear: The House is in for a long night as lawmakers look to pass the massive spending package, aid for Ukraine and a separate bill for pandemic relief.
Facing Revolt, Pelosi Pulls Covid Funding From Spending Bill
Congressional leaders on Wednesday introduced a roughly $1.5 trillion package that would fund the government through the rest of the fiscal year, providing a sizable boost in federal spending for both defense and non-defense programs along with nearly $14 billion in emergency aid to Ukraine.
After months of tenuous negotiations, top lawmakers were intent on quickly passing the 2,741-page measure, known as an omnibus — both to ensure that federal operations aren’t interrupted when current government funding expires at the end of the day Friday and so that Democrats could head out to a three-day policy retreat in Philadelphia. They also included a fallback option in the form of another stopgap funding bill that would avert a shutdown in case the larger package is delayed.
That plan for quick action quickly fell apart, though. A group of Democrats objected to the legislation’s repurposing of $7 billion pandemic aid funding for state governments to partially cover the cost of $15.6 billion in new Covid-19 public health spending. The reprogramming of those state funds was included in the bill after some Republicans had questioned the need for any additional pandemic spending and insisted that any additional money for coronavirus testing, treatments and vaccines be fully offset. But some Democratic lawmakers bucked at the funding compromise, saying that the structure of the deal would unfairly hurt about 30 states, taking away money that had been promised and in some cases already included in state spending plans.
“This deal was cut behind closed doors. Members found out this morning. This is completely unacceptable,” Rep. Annie Craig (D-MN) told reporters after leaving Pelosi’s office.
With time running short, House leaders decided to strip the pandemic relief money from the spending bill and hold a separate vote on a measure to provide the coronavirus aid without stripping state money. “It is heartbreaking to remove the COVID funding, and we must continue to fight for urgently needed COVID assistance, but unfortunately that will not be included in this bill,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said in an afternoon letter to Democrats.
The bottom line: The spending bill looks set to pass late tonight. It would then head to the Senate. The Covid relief bill is also set for a late vote, but it is likely to be blocked by Senate Republicans, meaning that the Biden administration won’t be able to fund pandemic programs it says are critical to combatting the virus and preparing for any new variants.
What’s In the $1.5 Trillion Omnibus Spending Bill
The omnibus spending bill that appears on track to pass tonight includes all 12 annual appropriations bill for fiscal year 2022 along with more funding to support Ukraine and refugees fleeing the Russian invasion there.
The bill would provide $730 billion for non-defense spending and $782 billion for defense spending, with $743 billion of the latter amount slated directly for the Pentagon. Both defense and non-defense spending would increase by $42 billion relative to the previous year — a parity insisted upon by Republican lawmakers over the objections of progressives.
House Appropriations Committee Chair Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) hailed the 6.7% increase in non-defense funding as the largest in four years. And Senate Appropriations Chair Patrick Leahy (D-VT) said the bill “makes bold investments in critical areas that went underfunded or even neglected in the previous administration, including education, childcare, healthcare, the environment, science and research, and many more.”
Why it matters: “Even in the face of the disputes and delays, the $1.5 trillion spending bill still amounted to a major legislative victory in Washington,” The Washington Post’s Tony Romm and Marianna Sotomayor wrote. “Under President Biden, lawmakers had been operating under a series of temporary spending patches that generally have frozen the federal government at older funding levels. The approach meant the White House could not achieve its grandest ambitions to boost federal programs, including those that aid low-income families and respond to public health crises, despite issuing a budget last year that called for rejuvenating these efforts.”
But budget watchers decried the extraordinarily messy process in reaching this deal, which covers the fiscal year that began more than five months ago — and they warned about the spending increases. “This entire episode is a reminder of why we need to reform the budget process: the bill is almost 6 months late, unconstrained by discretionary spending caps, and not being considered in the context of an overall fiscal plan,” said Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, which advocates for deficit reduction.
What’s included on the defense side: The appropriations surpass the Biden administration’s budget request by about $30 billion, increasing by 6% over the 2021 fiscal year. The Navy is one of the biggest winners, Roll Call’s John M. Donnelly says, with $27 billion going toward shipbuilding. About $4 billion of that was unrequested and will go toward the construction of nine additional ships, including an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer and two Expeditionary Fast Transport ships. Another $900 million will go toward the purchase of 12 F/A-18 fighter jets that the administration did not request.
What’s included on the non-defense side: Highlights of the sprawling package include:
• Nearly $4 billion for rural development, including money for broadband internet services;
• $12.6 billion for the IRS, a $675 million increase from 2021 and the largest boost for the agency in two decades;
• $108 billion for the Department of Health and Human Services, a 12% increase;
• $140 billion for food aid through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program;
• $24 billion for NASA, a roughly $730 million increase from 2021 but less than requested by the White House.
A return to earmarks: The bill also includes billions of dollars’ worth of earmarks, now called “member-directed spending,” for the first time since their use was eliminated in 2011.
Aid for Ukraine: The spending deal includes a supplemental bill (text here) that would provide $13.6 billion in aid for Ukraine and the American response to the Russian invasion. About $6.5 billion of that total would go to the Department of Defense, with $3 billion for rebuilding military stocks to replace equipment that has been sent to Ukraine, and $3.5 billion for troop deployments and intelligence efforts at U.S. European Command.
The State Department would receive nearly $4 billion, with funds targeting refugee support ($1.4 billion), regional assistance ($1.1 billion), foreign military financing ($650 million), economic aid ($647 million), diplomatic efforts ($125 million) and law enforcement ($30 million).
The U.S. Agency for International Development would receive nearly $2.8 billion, with the bulk of the funds ($2.6 billion) being used for disaster relief in Ukraine and surrounding countries.
The remaining funds, totaling roughly $300 million, would be distributed to a variety of federal agencies, including the Agriculture, Commerce and Energy departments for projects relating to aid, communications and oversight. About $120 million of the remaining funds would go to the Treasury and Justice departments for efforts relating to sanctions, trade and combatting potential Russian cyberattacks.
Overall, lawmakers intend to provide more than twice the Biden administration’s request for $6.4 billion in Ukraine aid. “Democrats and Republicans who have struggled to coalesce behind meaningful legislation to aid the Ukrainian cause are rallying around one of the few substantive tools available to them: sending money and weapons,” says Catie Edmondson of The New York Times.
Quote of the Day
“People were able to sell tests like hot cakes over Omicron. They were able to gouge prices. It’s now, when the libraries can’t give them away, that the government needs to make sure that the manufacturers don’t pull out, like what happened before Delta.”
– Gigi Gronvall, a testing expert at Johns Hopkins University, in a New York Times article on the Biden’ administration’s move to allow people who had ordered free Covid-19 tests to ask for another batch of four tests per household through the same program, which has reportedly seen more than 275 million tests sent to some 70 million households. With demand for tests having fallen, and with federal funding for the at-home kits now lapsing. “White House officials and public health experts say it will require significant effort to sustain interest in testing — and ensure that manufacturers keep producing tests,” the Times’s Noah Weiland reports.
Number of the Day: $1.5 Billion
An investigation by The Washington Post into settlements to resolve lawsuits and other allegations of police misconduct documented nearly 40,000 payments totaling more than $3 billion across 25 police departments. Of that total, the Post found that officers whose conduct was at issue in more than one payment accounted for more than $1.5 billion in settlements, nearly half the total. “Taxpayers are often in the dark” about the costs involved, the Post notes. “Despite the repetition and cost, few cities or counties track claims by the names of the officers involved — meaning that officials may be unaware of officers whose alleged misconduct is repeatedly costing taxpayers,” The Post’s Keith L. Alexander, Steven Rich and Hannah Thacker write. “Even when payments are covered by insurance claims, taxpayers ultimately still pay as those claims drive up the cost of the insurance.”
Visit the Post’s site to read more or see payment data by city.
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News
- Congress Finalizes a $13.6 Billion Aid Package to Ukraine, Doubling the White House’s Initial Request. – New York Times
- Democrats Yank COVID Relief After Revolt by Own Members – The Hill
- Pelosi Says Separate Coronavirus Relief Bill Will Be Put On the Floor ‘Hopefully Today' – The Hill
- House to Punt COVID Aid to the Senate Amid Funding Feud – Politico
- Defense Spending Deal Bristles With Weapons Biden Didn’t Seek – Roll Call
- Violence Against Women Act Set for Renewal in Spending Package – Roll Call
- Legislative Branch Bill Boosts Members Representational Allowance, Capitol Police – Roll Call
- Senate Passes $107 Billion Overhaul of USPS, Lauding Mail Agency’s Role in Pandemic Response – Washington Post
- The Hidden Billion-Dollar Cost of Repeated Police Misconduct – Washington Post
- Pandemic Aid Boosted Pay of 740,000 U.S. Frontline Workers – Bloomberg
- Employers Are Still Scrambling to Fill Vacancies, a New U.S. Report Shows. – New York Times
- Biden Restores California’s Power to Set Car Emissions Rules – Associated Press
Views and Analysis
- Republicans Wrongly Blame Biden for Rising Gas Prices – Linda Qiu, New York Times
- There Are Glimmers of Hope for Biden. Or Maybe Slivers. – Thomas B. Edsall, New York Times
- How the Putin Shock Might Affect the World Economy – Paul Krugman, New York Times (subscription required)
- Will Spiking Energy Prices Necessitate Student Loan Debt Cancellation? – Alexander Sammon, American Prospect
- How to Help Ukraine? Prioritize Food and Migration – Tyler Cowen, Bloomberg
- The End of Globalism – Robert Kuttner, American Prospect
- The New Phase of the Pandemic Is Covid Exhaustion – The Argument, New York Times (podcast)
- We Will Forget Much of the Pandemic. That’s a Good Thing. – Scott A. Small, New York Times
Correction: This article was updated to correct the budget increase included for NASA.