Senate works on spending bill
GOP draft includes border wall funds; covid relief discussed
WASHINGTON — Republicans controlling the Senate unveiled a governmentwide, $1.4 trillion spending bill on Tuesday, a largely bipartisan measure.
The move comes as the White House budget office instructed federal agencies to continue preparing the Trump administration’s budget proposal for the next fiscal year, according to several administration officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to share details of private conversations.
The White House budget proposal is typically issued in February.
The budget proposal currently under development by the Trump administration would be for spending that runs from Oct. 1, 2021 through Sept. 30, 2022.
Two administration officials involved in the new budget process said it was highly unusual for the White House not to adjust its budget planning based on the results of the election.
“They’re pretending nothing happened,” one government official involved in the federal budget process said. “We’re all supposed to pretend this is normal, and do all this work, while we know we’re just going to have to throw it away.”
The person spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the internal planning.
The GOP-drafted spending measure, meanwhile, contains funding for a border wall and other provisions opposed by Democrats. Top leaders in both parties want to try to mount a drive to enact the unfinished spending bills — which, along with a separate covid-19 relief effort and annual defense policy bill, represent the bulk of Capitol Hill’s unfinished business for the year.
Success depends on getting the signature of President Donald Trump.
“I’ve had this argument before and so far I’ve lost. I argued 12 years ago, the Obama transition, that the best thing you could do to help the new president was to get this year’s work done, and we didn’t get it done,” said Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo. “Four years ago I argued that … and we didn’t get it done.”
At issue is the roughly one-third of the federal budget that is written annually by Congress under a time-tested bipartisan process. The overall spending amount has been set in law by last year’s bipartisan budget mini-deal, so any delay into next year won’t likely result in more money for a Biden administration. Current funding expires Dec. 12.
The 12 spending measures, released by Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby, R-Ala., have been stalled for months, trapped by fights over covid relief and potential battles over police issues. But he has the backing of top panel Democrat Patrick Leahy of Vermont, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and top Senate Democrat Charles Schumer of New York to pursue the effort. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., a veteran of the Appropriations Committee, also would like to wrap up the unfinished business.
“By and large, these bills are the product of bipartisan cooperation among members of the committee,” Shelby said in a statement. “Time after time, we have demonstrated our willingness to work together and get the job done. We have before us the opportunity to deliver for the American people once again.”
But Leahy avoided endorsing the measure outright and instead criticized the legislation for ignoring covid-19 relief, shortchanging safety-net programs and the environment, and wasting money on unused detention beds for people entering the country illegally.
Large parts of the measure are bipartisan, including a $696 billion defense budget that adds 96 F-35 fighters to the Pentagon’s ranks, funds nine Navy ships, and provides $69 billion for overseas military operations. It adopts $2 billion for 82 miles of border wall, along with $8.8 billion for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency that Democrats say isn’t needed because there are fewer apprehensions of illegal border-crossers.
NASA, health research, and veterans’ programs all would be rewarded with healthy increases, while foreign aid and education programs would get smaller increases.
“This country is headed for a deadly winter and it is long past time for us to provide the resources the country needs to get this virus under control and our economy back open,” Leahy said in a statement. “These bills do not provide any such relief. It is imperative that we do what is necessary to stop this pandemic from spreading.”