Current government appropriations are due to expire in just over three weeks from today, on September 30. Lawmakers and the Trump Administration are continuing to negotiate a funding bill or a continuing resolution (CR) to extend the deadline, but so far have not yet agreed on an approach, potentially threatening a government shutdown. The Senate is scheduled to be in session for 16 days before the funding deadline, while the House is scheduled to be in session 14 days.
The House and Senate have not agreed on topline spending levels and are advancing spending at significantly different levels. The House Appropriations Committee is largely in line with the White House’s budget plan to cut non-defense discretionary spending by more than $160 billion, while the Senate Appropriations Committee is seeking spending increases of roughly three percent. So far, the House has passed three of the twelve spending bills (MilCon-VA, Defense, Energy & Water), while the Senate has passed three bills (MilCon-VA, Agriculture, Legislative Branch).
Lawmakers have not yet advanced the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies budget, which calls for drastic cuts including a 28% cut to the Department of Labor and 6% to Health and Human Services. Notably, this would include a 35% reduction to the DOL’s Employment and Training Administration (ETA) and a 63% reduction in Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) state grants.
Argentum has urged against these funding cuts, and in a statement last week noted that, “Now is the time to make bold investments in our long-term care systems, with cost-effective care models like assisted living, and to promote career pathways for the 20-million workers who will be needed by 2040.” We also said that “any spending cuts to long-term care and critical workforce programs would be short-sighted, and implore lawmakers and the Trump Administration to support the programs that have proven success records, and cost-effective care models to meet the rapidly increasing demand for services.”
Complicating the negotiations is the ongoing effort by the Trump Administration to rescind already-passed government funding. In July, Congress approved the White House’s request to rescind $8 billion for foreign aid and $1 billion for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting of previously appropriated funding—making it the first rescissions package initiated by the president and passed by Congress since the Clinton administration. Last month, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) declared it would also rescind $4.9 billion in foreign aid funding through a “pocket rescission,” to override appropriations during the final 45 days of the fiscal year, despite the process being declared illegal by the Government Accountability Office. Further recissions of Congressionally appropriated funding may dissuade Democrats from negotiating on appropriations ahead of the September 30 deadline.