June 18, 2024: Expectation vs. Reality, Part II - Checking in on Appropriations

 
 

It’s been almost a month since House Majority Leader Steve Scalise outlined his proposed schedule for the House to vote on Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 appropriations bills. We shared our take on that schedule in our May 30 update. Check out where things stand below. 

Where things stand

As of June 17, the House has passed one of the 12 appropriations bills, Military Construction-VA, in a nearly party-line vote of 209-197. If the House Majority sticks to its schedule, the House will take up three of the 11 outstanding bills next week: Defense, Homeland Security, and State-Foreign Operations. 

Table A below indicates the bills’ current status, how reality stacks up next to Republican leaders’ expectations, and what happened in 2023. It shows that even if one bill passes next week, it will be progress compared to last year when the House passed just one appropriations bill before August recess. 

What’s next 

However, the House doesn’t have an easy road ahead. 

Even if all three bills pass next week, the House will have eight left to consider during its three weeks of session in July. That batch includes the four bills that did not make it to the floor last year: Commerce-Justice-Science, Financial Services-General Government, Labor-HHS-Education, and Transportation-HUD. All four bills present pitfalls that could jeopardize House passage. 

For example, Financial Services-General Government—the only one of the four that’s been introduced: 

  • Slashes funding that enables the IRS to investigate corporate and mega-wealthy tax dodgers; 

  • Blocks the expansion of the Direct File program that lets taxpayers avoid filing fees for programs like TurboTax and could bring families $19 billion in savings and refunds; and 

  • Excludes IVF protections for America’s more than 2 million federal employees.  

On top of policy disputes, the remaining spending bills could pose political problems. GOP House Members have proposed using appropriations bills to punish people prosecuting former President Donald Trump. That retaliation could include using the pending Commerce-Justice-Science bill to block federal funding for the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office or Special Counsel Jack Smith. If these proposals end up in the bill to earn far-right Republicans’ votes, moderate GOP Members might withhold their support—and, potentially, rob Speaker Johnson of enough votes to get through the House. 

We’ll continue to share updates on this process. Folks can find our previous updates and sign up for future ones here. We appreciate your helping spread the word about our Unrig the Rules program to keep stakeholders informed about what’s happening in Congress and what it means. 

Table A: Comparing House Votes on Standalone FY2024 Appropriations Bills, House Republicans’ Floor Schedule for FY2025 Appropriations Bills, and Current Status

Sources: Appropriations Status Table: FY2024 and Appropriations Status Table: FY2025 (Congressional Research Service).

 
Cat Rowland