House and Senate appropriators will sit down next week when House lawmakers return from their Veterans Day break.
“We’re going to talk about everything — any way to move the process,” Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) said, according to Politico. “We have to do the best we can as soon as we can.”
Shelby said lawmakers will likely extend current government spending levels – set to expire Nov. 21 – until just before or after Christmas. The White House has said President Trump would sign a continuing resolution if it doesn’t hinder his ability to move military construction funds around to pay for a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) want to complete negotiations on all 12 spending bills by the end of the year. Sticking points include the border wall and the overall budget allocation figures for defense and non-defense spending levels.
DOD photo by Senior Master Sgt. Adrian Cadiz
Final Appropriations Deadline Approaches
Friday is the deadline for Congress to pass the final six appropriations bills for the current fiscal year. The defense appropriations bill is part of the package. Punchbowl News reported this morning that negotiators have finished work on defense spending and other...