House to vote on sweeping government funding bills next week

The House will vote next week on more than half a trillion dollars in proposed spending to keep the government running as leaders work to pass their annual funding bills before lawmakers are set for recess next month.

The lower chamber is scheduled to take up six of its dozen annual spending bills next week to fund a list of agencies for fiscal 2023, including the departments of Housing and Urban Development, Transportation, Agriculture, Energy and Veterans Affairs as well as the Food and Drug Administration.

A source familiar with the process told The Hill the measures will be “packaged as one bill — coming up for a floor vote on the same day.”

It’s unclear when the remaining six bills will be brought up for a vote as leaders lock down timing, but House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said last month that the plan is to “put bills on the floor in July.”

The legislation, which House negotiators spent the last few weeks marking up before sending out of committee, is expected to pass the Democratic-led House. However, the bills — approved largely along party lines in committee — will likely look different after House and Senate leaders hash out an overall compromise on fiscal 2023 funding in the months ahead. 

In a statement on Monday, House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) touted the bills as measures that would “help the middle class, working families, small businesses, and the vulnerable who work hard.”

“We are committed to combating climate change, bolstering mental health services, supporting our Veterans, and building safer communities with less crime and violence and more security,” DeLauro said.

However, the legislation has seen pushback from Republicans over costs and what they have called a “liberal wish list,” with a lack of parity in defense and nondefense spending.

The Senate has yet to introduce any of its annual spending bills for fiscal 2023 as leaders struggle to come to an agreement on top-line numbers and defense spending, raising questions about when Congress will finish its messy appropriations work this year — if it does.

If lawmakers are unable to pass their appropriations bills by the cutoff date in late September, when current government funding is set to lapse, Congress can pass a continuing resolution allowing the government to temporarily remain funded at the prior year’s fiscal levels to buy time for a deal.

Last year, Congress passed three continuing resolutions to avert a shutdown before passing a $1.5 trillion spending omnibus package for fiscal 2022 in March.

But lawmakers are facing more of a time crunch this year, particularly as the pivotal midterm races loom in November and as the upper chamber’s top two negotiators, Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Vice Chairman Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), prepare to retire.