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Federal spending bill poised to pass

Politics

Senators Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., and Patty Murray, D-Wash., talk before the start of a November Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing. On Monday, Mikulski announced the bipartisan spending deal Murray helped craft the framework for last month. Photo By Douglas Graham/CQ Roll Call

House and Senate negotiators took another step away from governing by crisis Monday, reaching a deal on a $1 trillion spending measure to fund the government through September. The agreement avoids many of the politically-charged provisions that could have torpedoed a compromise and pares back the automatic, across-the-board spending reductions known as the sequester.

The talks were led by House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers, R-Ky., and Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., who released a joint statement Monday evening announcing the accord.

The Morning Line

“As with any compromise, not everyone will like everything in this bill, but in this divided government a critical bill such as this simply cannot reflect the wants of only one party,” the lawmakers said. “We believe this is a good, workable measure that will serve the American people well, and we encourage all our colleagues to support it this week.”

The agreement fills in the framework set up in December under the bipartisan budget agreement crafted by Rep. Paul Ryan and Sen. Patty Murray, the chairs of the House and Senate Budget committees. The December deal called for a one percentage point cut to the cost-of-living adjustment for working-age military retirees, but the new proposal would roll back that provision for disabled veterans.

The Washington Post’s Lori Montgomery and Ed O’Keefe break down the numbers in the bill:

All told, the bill would provide $1.012 trillion to the Pentagon and other federal agencies. An additional $92 billion would be set aside for overseas operations, including military activity in Afghanistan and assistance for the growing flow of refu­gees fleeing the war in Syria. The bill also authorizes $6.55 billion for domestic disaster relief.

The measure authorizes a 1 percent pay increase for civilian federal workers and U.S. military personnel. But in response to several examples of excess spending by federal agencies, the bill would put in place new limits on certain conferences, official travel and employee awards.

The National Institutes of Health would receive $29.9 billion, $1 billion more than under the sequester but $714 million less than the agency was due to receive last year before the sequester hit last March.

While Democrats managed to stymie Republican efforts to strip funding for the Affordable Care Act and block the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, GOP lawmakers did win some concessions. The New York Times’ Jonathan Weisman outlines those:

The bill would cut $1 billion from the Affordable Care Act’s Prevention and Public Health Fund, which Republicans have long targeted, fearing the administration would use it to bolster the law’s online insurance exchanges.

The legislation also would impose new requirements for the Internal Revenue Service in reporting its activities to the public and Congress after the agency’s scrutiny of Tea Party groups’ applications for nonprofit status. The $11.3 billion appropriated for the I.R.S. is down $503 million from the level enacted in 2013.

Even with those victories, many conservatives are likely to oppose the measure given the size (1,500-plus pages), cost ($25 billion more than the original House target) and inclusion of funding for the implementation of the health care law. Just how staunch that pushback is will become apparent after House Republicans gather Tuesday morning for their weekly conference meeting.

With less than 48 hours until government funding is set to expire, lawmakers are expected to approve a three-day spending measure to buy themselves additional time to move the compromise through both chambers.

LINE ITEMS

  • Was Gov. Chris Christie right to have included himself in advertisements for Jersey Shore tourism after Superstorm Sandy? Did Christie snub the Jersey City mayor too after not receiving his endorsement last year? Questions about Christie’s political nature keep coming, just as he’s set to deliver the State of the State address Tuesday afternoon and further acknowledge the George Washington Bridge mess. But while the rest of the country hones in on Christie, almost 60 percent of New Jersey residents still approve of his leadership, and 75 percent say political retaliation is politics as usual.
  • The government released new enrollment data on the Affordable Care Act, including that many people who’ve signed up in federal and state marketplaces are older.
  • Mr. Obama called former Defense Secretary Robert Gates a “good friend” despite the critical memoir Gates released last week.
  • The president’s highly anticipated speech Friday about the National Security Agency and its surveillance practices will be at the Justice Department.
  • The Supreme Court Monday declined to review an Arizona law that would have blocked most abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy.
  • Democrats in Arkansas, particularly Sen. Mark Pryor, face an uphill battle in the next election because of their ties to President Obama’s health care law, the Associated Press reports.
  • Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, on Monday announced the hiring of Paul Teller, the former executive director of the Republican Study Committee in the House. Teller was fired last month for leaking internal documents to outside conservative groups in an effort to undermine the bipartisan budget agreement negotiated between Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash.
  • Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., will retire that after four decades in Congress. “I look forward to one last year in Congress fighting the good fight and then working in new venues on the issues that have inspired me,” Miller said in a statement announcing his decision.
  • What happens when Congress cuts its own budget? The National Journal’s Alex Seitz-Wald says the result leaves much to be desired.
  • Mayor Bill de Blasio and Catholic Cardinal Timothy Dolan hope they can convince Pope Francis to visit New York City. In other news, test your skills in this New York Magazine “Who said it?” quiz, “Bill de Blasio or the Pope?“
  • Detroit may not have to sell its art collection because of bankruptcy.
  • Laura Vozella for the Washington Post writes about the history of Virginia gubernatorial pranks, including now-Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s early morning surprise Monday from former Gov. Bob McDonnell.
  • Despite Republicans’ requests to remove it, Nevada’s “None of these candidates” option will stay on statewide ballots. The Supreme Court chose not to hear a case regarding it.

NEWSHOUR ROUNDUP

  • Marcia Coyle of the National Law Journal explained how the Supreme Court Monday tackled a complicated case about when the president has power to make temporary political appointments without Senate approval and what it means for the Senate to be in recess. Those questions arose in National Labor Relations Board v. Noel Canning. The Obama administration defended the president’s practice of making well-timed appointments to skip congressional gridlock. Conservatives, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, believe the Senate holds more power.
  • Judy Woodruff spoke with Ashton Marra, a reporter in West Virginia, and Coral Davenport, who covers energy and the environment for the New York Times, about the West Virginia chemical spill that polluted hundreds of thousands of residents’ water. The Charleston Gazette describes in detail what federal inspectors saw at the spill site: the “Band-Aid approach.”

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Aileen Graef contributed to this report.

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Questions or comments? Email Terence Burlij at tburlij-at-newshour-dot-org.

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