The House began consideration of its first FY20 minibus spending package on the floor while the Senate met with the White House to discuss raising overall spending limits for FY20. The House is scheduled to be in session 33 more days before the end of the fiscal year, and the Senate is scheduled to be in session 45 days.
Senate
The Senate is likely to deem a topline spending level for FY20 if there isn’t a bipartisan agreement on overall spending levels with Democrats and the White House by the end of the July 4threcess. Senate Appropriators would use a “responsible” deemed level to begin action on their 12 annual spending bills in July and then adjust the numbers later after a bipartisan agreement emerges. House Budget Committee Chairman John Yarmuth (D-KY) said that if a two-year budget cap agreement can’t be reached, Democrats would likely accept a one-year agreement.
House
The House began consideration of its four-bill minibus appropriations package (H.R. 2740) this week, which included the Labor HHS Education, Defense, State Foreign Operations, and Energy & Water spending bills. The amendments considered this week focused on the Labor HHS Education and State Foreign Operations sections of the minibus package. They have numerous amendments to consider next week on the Defense and Energy & Water portions of the bill. After they complete consideration of H.R. 2740, the House will then consider a five-bill spending package (H.R. 3055), which includes the Commerce-Justice-Science, Agriculture, Interior, Military Construction-Veterans Affairs, and Transportation-HUD spending bills.
It is Majority Leader Steny Hoyer’s (D-MD) intention still to finish all 12 spending bills this work period (i.e. before the July 4th recess). Once these two minibus packages are done, the three remaining bills are the Legislative Branch, Homeland Security, and Financial Services bills. The Legislative Branch bill was originally part of H.R. 2740, but was pulled from the minibus package because it contained the first pay raise for Congress since 2009 and put at risk some politically vulnerable Democrats.
White House Statement of Administration Policy on H.R. 2740
https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/SAP_HR-2740.pdf
| Subcommittee | FY19 Funding (Enacted) | FY20 House 302(b) | FY20 Senate 302(b) |
| Agriculture | $23.0B | $24.310B | |
| CJS | $64.1B | $66.395B | |
| CJS 2020 Census | $7.500B | ||
| Defense | $606.5B | $622.082B | |
| DOD OCO | $68.079B | ||
| Energy & Water | $44.6B | $46.413B | |
| Financial Services | $23.4B | $24.550B | |
| Homeland Security | $49.4B | $49.736B | |
| Interior | $35.6B | $37.277B | |
| Interior Wildfires | $2.250B | ||
| Labor HHS Ed | $178.1B | $191.718B | |
| Legislative Branch | $4.8B | $5.010B | |
| MilCon-VA | $97.1B | $105.217B | |
| MilCon-VA OCO | $0.921B | ||
| State Foreign Ops | $46.2B | $48.381B | |
| State OCO | $8.000B | ||
| Transportation HUD | $71.1B | $75.771B |
Financial Services and General Government
The House Appropriations Committee approved its $24.55B FY20 Financial Services and General Government spending bill and reported it out by a party-line vote of 30-21. The bill is funded at $1.4B above FY19 enacted levels and $355.5M above the President’s FY20 budget request. The bill includes $400M under a discretionary program integrity cap adjustment for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to fund new and continuing investments to expand and improve the effectiveness of the IRS’ overall tax enforcement program. The Technology Modernization Fund is funded at $35M, far short of the $150M the President requested in his FY20 budget request, but $10M more than what was appropriated in FY19. And, the bill includes a provision to increase Federal civilian pay by 3.1% in 2020.
The bill also removes several preexisting policy riders for the District of Columbia:
- Eliminates a ban on the use of local funds for abortion services
- Eliminates a ban on the use of local funds to legalize marijuana
- Eliminates a ban on the use of funds for needle exchange programs
- Eliminates a provision appropriating local District funds
The following amendments to the bill were adopted by the full Committee:
- Rep. Quigley – The manager’s amendment makes technical and noncontroversial changes to the bill and report. The amendment was adopted by voice vote.
- Rep. Cuellar – The amendment adds report language on ensuring adequate capacity at land ports of entry for processing of asylum seekers. The amendment was adopted by voice vote.
FY20 Financial Services and General Government Bill Text
FY20 Financial Services and General Government Bill Summary
FY20 Financial Services and General Government Report Language
https://docs.house.gov/meetings/AP/AP00/20190611/109632/HMKP-116-AP00-20190611-SD003.pdf
OMB Letter to Chairwoman Lowey
https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/FSGG-Lowey.pdf
Homeland Security
The House Appropriations Committee approved its $63.8B FY20 Homeland Security spending bill and reported it out by a vote of 29 to 20. The bill is funded at $2.2B above FY19 enacted levels but $1.9B below the President’s FY20 budget request.
The bill includes no funding for the President’s border wall, additional Border Patrol Agents or Border Patrol checkpoints. It also rescinds $601M from the Customs and Border Protection Procurement, Construction and Improvements account that was appropriated in the FY19 omnibus spending bill. This is the same amount that the President wanted to divert from the Treasury Forfeiture Fund for border wall construction.
The following amendments to the bill were adopted by the full Committee:
- Rep. Roybal-Allard – The manager’s amendment makes technical and noncontroversial changes to the bill and report. The amendment was adopted by voice vote.
- Rep. Wasserman Schultz – For a provision in the bill mandating access by Members of Congress to detention facilities for oversight purposes, the amendment strikes a requirement that Members provide 24-hour advance notice. The amendment was adopted by voice vote.
- Rep. DeLauro – The amendment adds bill language extending the deadline for FEMA to consider the re-submission of a request for Individual Assistance related to the removal of debris from private property for major disasters occurring on or after May 1, 2018, and requiring FEMA to reconsider such re-submissions. The amendment also adds report language requiring FEMA to provide a related briefing to the Committee. The amendment was adopted by voice vote.
- Rep. Price, cosponsored by Reps. Aguilar, Lee, Pocan – The amendment prohibits the use of funds for various Trump administration policies, including the detention or removal of DACA recipients and certain ICE and CBP raids and other immigration enforcement activities. The amendment was adopted on a vote of 28 to 21.
- Rep. Cuellar, cosponsored by Rep. Newhouse – The amendment adds bill language authorizing the use of the H-2A program for agricultural jobs that are not temporary or seasonal in nature. The amendment was adopted by voice vote.
- Rep. Pingree, cosponsored by Reps. Harris, Ruppersberger – The amendment increases the annual cap on H-2B visas. The amendment was adopted by voice vote.
FY20 Homeland Security Bill Text
https://docs.house.gov/meetings/AP/AP15/20190605/109599/BILLS-116-SC-AP-FY2020-HSecurity.pdf
FY20 Homeland Security Bill Summary
FY20 Homeland Security Report Language
https://docs.house.gov/meetings/AP/AP00/20190611/109632/HRPT-116-FY2020_Homeland_Report.pdf
OMB Letter to Chairwoman Lowey
https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/DHS-Lowey.pdf
FY2020 Appropriations Bills Status
| Subcommittee | House Action | Senate Action |
| Agriculture | Subcommittee: May 23Full Committee: June 4 | |
| Commerce Justice Science | Subcommittee: May 17Full Committee: May 22 | |
| Defense | Subcommittee: May 15Full Committee: May 21 | |
| Energy & Water | Subcommittee: May 15Full Committee: May 21 | |
| Financial Services | Subcommittee: June 3Full Committee: June 11 | |
| Homeland Security | Subcommittee: June 5Full Committee: June 11 | |
| Interior Environment | Subcommittee: May 15Full Committee: May 22 | |
| Labor HHS Education | Subcommittee: April 30Full Committee: May 8 | |
| Legislative Branch | Subcommittee: May 1Full Committee: May 9 | |
| Military Construction VA | Subcommittee: May 1Full Committee: May 9 | |
| State Foreign Operations | Subcommittee: May 10Full Committee: May 16 | |
| Transportation HUD | Subcommittee: May 23Full Committee: June 4 |