House and Senate Delay FY19 Appropriations with New CR

The current FY19 appropriations continuing resolution (CR) was set to expire at midnight tonight. While legislative action was largely paused this week for memorial services for former President George H.W. Bush, the House and Senate were able to clear another CR funding the remaining seven appropriations bills through December 21. The House cleared the new CR through a unanimous consent agreement, and the Senate followed passing it by voice vote. The President signed it into law today.

The CR also extends a number of expiring authorizations including the National Flood Insurance Program, the Violence Against Women Act, and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families

The President’s FY19 budget request submitted to Congress in February of this year requested $1.6B for 65 miles of new border wall system in southern Texas. The Senate has included $1.6B in their FY19 Homeland Security appropriations bill. The President informally increased the request to $5B in a meeting with congressional Republicans in June. A formal budget amendment with details of how the $5B would be spent has not been submitted to Congress. The House included $5B in their FY19 Homeland Security appropriations bill. Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby (R-AL) has proposed a down payment of $2.5B for the border wall in FY19 followed by another $2.5B in FY20. President Trump has threatened to veto any spending measure that does not include $5B for the wall.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said that Democrats would support one of two options – either an omnibus with the seven remaining bills with the Homeland bill including $1.6B for the wall or a spending package that includes six of the seven remaining FY19 appropriations bills and a full-year CR for the Department of Homeland Security. Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) are scheduled to meet with President Trump on Tuesday.

The administration has also submitted to Congress a four-page list that includes $4.76B in FY19 funding anomalies that they would like to see funded in the final FY19 spending bill. These new spending requests include funding for national security reviews of foreign purchases by U.S. businesses, to help combat more frequent wildfire outbreaks, and to care for unaccompanied migrant children in custody. How Congress will be able to accommodate these new funding requests given the funding caps is unclear. The remaining seven House bills are already $736M above their nondefense spending cap for FY19.

FY2019 Full-Year Funding Anomalies Requested by Trump Administration

https://www.vantagepointstrat.com/anomalies/