The House Appropriations Committee is proceeding with appropriations bills based on spending limits that the House Budget Committee is considering for the FY18 budget resolution. Appropriators marked up five FY18 appropriations bills this week based on those spending limits. However, as mentioned above, these spending limits will trigger sequestration without a new bipartisan deal removing the caps set by the 2011 Budget Control Act. Despite no agreement on the overall spending limits, Democrats on the House Appropriations Committee did agree to advance a few FY18 spending bills this week.
Agriculture
The Agriculture Appropriations subcommittee marked up its FY18 spending bill on Wednesday. The $144.9B FY18 Agriculture Appropriations bill is $8.5B less than what was appropriated in FY17, but $4.64B above President Trump’s FY18 budget request. Discretionary funding in the bill is $20B, which is $876M less than FY17 enacted levels. In addition to funding agricultural and food programs and services, the bill includes some policy provisions. One provision would allow schools demonstrating a financial hardship to seek an exemption from the whole grain nutrition standards. Another provision would prevent further implementation of sodium reduction standards. And a final provision would provide schools with flexibility in serving low-fat flavored milk.
FY18 Agriculture Appropriations Bill Text:
https://appropriations.house.gov/uploadedfiles/bills-115hr-sc-ap-fy2018-agriculture-agriculture.pdf
Summary:
https://appropriations.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=394939
Commerce, Justice, Science,
The Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS) Appropriations subcommittee marked up its FY18 spending bill on Thursday. The $54B CJS spending bill is $2.6B less than FY17 enacted funding levels, but $4.8B above the President’s FY18 budget request. The bill funds the Departments of Commerce at $29B, an increase of $349M over FY17 and includes provisions related to import applications on shotguns for sporting purposes, the importation of “curios and relics” firearms, the export of firearms to Canada, and a prohibition on “gun-walking” (i.e. the “Fast and Furious” operation). The bill makes these four provisions permanent law. The bill funds NASA at $19.9B, which is $219M above the FY17 enacted level. The Department of Commerce is funded at $8.3B, a reduction of $892M from FY17. And the National Science Foundation is funded at $7.3B, which is a $133M cut from FY17.
Other policy provisions included in the bill are a prohibition on the transfer or release of Guantanamo detainees into the U.S., a prohibition on unauthorized reporting and registration requirements on consumers purchasing multiple rifles or shotguns, a requirement for federal agencies to conduct supply chain reviews before procuring sensitive IT systems, a prohibition on NASA and OSTP from engaging in bilateral activities with China unless authorized, and a prevention of settlement money from going to activist groups by prohibiting DOJ from entering into civil settlement agreements in which the defendant is required to make a donation to a third party.
FY18 Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations Bill Text:
Summary:
https://appropriations.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=394951
Defense
The Defense Appropriations Subcommittee marked up its FY18 Defense spending bill in subcommittee on Monday evening and full committee on Thursday morning. The bill provides $658.1B for the Department of Defense. This includes $584.2B in discretionary funding (an increase of $68.1B from FY17 enacted levels and $18.4B above the President’s FY18 budget request) and $73.9B in Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO)/Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) funding. The additional OCO/GWOT funds are targeted towards higher troop levels, readiness efforts, and equipment recapitalization and modernization. This also includes additional training time, facilities and aircraft repairs, procurement of modernized equipment, and the research and development of new military capabilities. The bill fully funds a 2.4% pay increase for the military.
During the full committee markup, members approved an amendment offered by Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) that repeals the Authorization of the Use of Military Force (AUMF) that was enacted after 9/11. The House Foreign Affairs Committee later said that the amendment should have been ruled out of order as they believe it violates House rules. The final bill was passed out of full committee by voice vote.
FY18 Defense Appropriations Bill Text:
https://appropriations.house.gov/uploadedfiles/bills-115hr-sc-ap-fy2018-defense-defense.pdf
FY18 Defense Appropriations Report Language:
https://appropriations.house.gov/uploadedfiles/hrpt-115-hr.pdf
Summary:
https://appropriations.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=394930
Energy & Water
The House Energy & Water Appropriations Subcommittee marked up their FY18 spending bill this week. The legislation provides annual funding for national defense nuclear weapons activities, the Army Corps of Engineers, various programs under the Department of Energy (DOE), and other related agencies.
The bill totals $37.56B– $209M below the FY17 enacted level and $3.65B above the President’s budget request. The bill provides $13.9B for DOE’s nuclear weapons security programs, a $976M increase above FY17. The Army Corps of Engineers is funded at $6.16B, an increase of $120M above FY17 and $1.16B above the President’s budget request. Included in the legislation is $6.4B for environmental management activities, $24.6M below FY17. Funding for energy programs within DOE is $9.6B– a decrease of $1.7B below FY17 and $2.3B above the President’s request. Science research is funded at $5.4B – the same as the FY17 enacted level. The bill continues congressional efforts to support the Yucca Mountain nuclear repository, providing $90M for the Nuclear Waste Disposal program, $30M for Defense Nuclear Waste Disposal, and $30M for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to continue the adjudication of DOE’s Yucca Mountain License application. The bill also includes some policy provisions that would authorize the EPA Administrator and the Secretary of the Army to withdraw from the Waters of the United States rule, restrict the application of the Clean Water Act in certain agricultural areas, allow for the possession of firearms on Corps of Engineers lands, and prohibit new nuclear nonproliferation projects in Russia without certain notifications from the Secretary of Energy.
FY18 Energy & Water Appropriations Bill Text:
Summary:
https://appropriations.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=394941
Legislative Branch
The House Appropriations Committee marked up their FY18 Legislative Branch Appropriations bill on Thursday and reported it out of full committee by voice vote. The bill provides annual 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 $100M above FY17 and $228M 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 fiscal year 2018. A freeze on the salaries of representatives has been in place since 2010. The bill also funds the Library of Congress at $648M (an increase of $16M above FY17) and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) at $568M (an increase of $450 thousand above FY17). The committee accepted an amendment offered by Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) that adds report language encouraging more training to avoid hiring bias in House offices.
FY18 Legislative Branch Bill Text:
http://docs.house.gov/meetings/AP/AP24/20170623/106178/BILLS-115-SC-AP-FY2018-LegBranch.pdf
FY18 Legislative Branch Report Language:
https://appropriations.house.gov/uploadedfiles/leg_report.pdf
Summary
https://appropriations.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=394925
| Subcommittee | House Action | Senate Action |
| Agriculture | Subcommittee: June 28 | |
| Commerce Justice Science | Subcommittee: June 29 | |
| Defense | Subcommittee: June 26
Full Committee: June 29 |
|
| Energy & Water | Subcommittee: June 28 | |
| Financial Services | Subcommittee: June 29 | |
| Homeland Security | Week of July 10 | |
| Interior | ||
| Labor HHS | ||
| Legislative Branch | Full Committee: June 29 | |
| MilCon-VA | Subcommittee: June 12
Full Committee: June 15 |
|
| State Foreign Ops | Week of July 10 | |
| Transportation HUD |