FY18 Budget and Appropriations Update

House Proposes Funding Levels for FY18 Budget Resolution

The House Budget Committee was planning to mark up their FY18 budget resolution next week, but nothing has been scheduled yet. Republican members of the committee have apparently agreed on topline spending levels of $621.5B for defense and $511B for non-defense plus $65B in Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) funding. These funding levels are $72.5B above the FY18 defense discretionary cap of $549B (and $18.5B more than President Trump requested in his FY18 budget) and $5B below the non-defense discretionary cap of $516B (but $32B more than President Trump requested in his FY18 budget). Raising the defense level above the statutory cap will require a bipartisan budget deal with Democrats to change the law in order to avoid sequestration. The FY18 budget resolution will also include reconciliation instructions requiring a minimum of $150B in savings over 10 years from entitlement programs. The reconciliation bill will be the vehicle for tax reform.

Republican Study Committee (RSC) Chairman Mark Walker (R-NC) said his group officially supports these topline spending levels, but is calling for $200B in mandatory spending savings in reconciliation instructions. If GOP members cannot agree on an FY18 budget resolution, the House might need to pass a deeming resolution to set topline discretionary spending levels.

House Continues Marking Up FY18 Appropriations Bills

While the House GOP conference meeting this morning did not finalize topline spending level decisions for an FY18 budget resolution nor an appropriations strategy, House Appropriators are moving forward with marking up their FY18 spending bills to a nondefense topline spending level of $511B. Defense hawks want additional funding for military spending ($640B), so the topline defense spending level is not settled yet for appropriators.

House Appropriators are working to get most of their FY18 spending bills done by mid-July. House leaders will then have to decide how to package the bills for floor votes – one omnibus with all 12 bills or several “minibuses.” Former House Appropriations Chairman Hal Rogers (R-KY) said that he doesn’t believe a summer omnibus spending bill is possible given the time limitations. The House is scheduled to be in session four more weeks before the start of the August recess, so they would have to post an omnibus bill in about three weeks in order to be considered on the House floor their final week of session.

Legislative Branch Appropriations Bill

The House continued the FY18 appropriations process this week by marking up their Legislative Branch spending bill. The bill provides funding for the offices of Members of the House of Representatives, the support agencies of Congress, security and police forces, services for visitors, and Capitol operations and maintenance. The total included for the House and joint operations, excluding Senate-only items, is $3.58B. This is $100 million above the FY17 level and $228 million below the President’s request. Additional funding is included to increase security for Members of Congress, staff, and their constituents in the wake of the shooting at the Congressional baseball team practice this month. The legislation also includes a provision to freeze the pay of Members of Congress, preventing any pay increases in FY18. A freeze on the salaries of representatives has been in place since 2010. The bill was approved by the subcommittee by voice vote and no amendments were offered.

Bill Text:

http://docs.house.gov/meetings/AP/AP24/20170623/106178/BILLS-115-SC-AP-FY2018-LegBranch.pdf

The House has three markups on the schedule for next week: Defense (Monday 7:00 PM), Agriculture (Wednesday 10:00 AM), and Energy & Water (Wednesday 11:00 AM).