Key lawmakers on Tuesday announced that they had struck a deal on the framework for funding the government through the end of the current fiscal year, with government funding set to run out on Friday.
Retiring Senate Appropriations Chair Patrick Leahy (D-VT) announced that appropriators have “reached a bipartisan, bicameral framework that should allow us to finish an omnibus appropriations bill that can pass the House and Senate and be signed into law by the President,” according to Politico.
Leahy, Senate Appropriations ranking member Richard Shelby (R-AL), and House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) are leading the negotiations for a bill to fund the government through the current fiscal year.
Shelby reportedly said the three lawmakers’ agreement allowed them “to begin the difficult work of reaching agreement across twelve separate bills.”
Shelby is hopeful the deal will get done by December 23, when Congress heads home for the Christmas break.
“We have a framework that provides a path forward to enact an omnibus next week,” DeLauro said on Tuesday.
The federal government is set to shut down on Friday if an omnibus spending bill is not passed. However, Congress is on track to pass a week-long continuing resolution to give Congress more time to draft an omnibus bill.
Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) reportedly said on Tuesday that negotiations are “very close” to reaching a deal on a spending bill that would be “broadly appealing.” However, McConnell also urged negotiators to finish no later than December 22, because he intends “to be on the road going home” on December 23.
Still, only some people in Congress are advocating for Congress to pass a year-long spending bill that would set the budget until the end of the current fiscal year on September 30, 2023.
Some House Republicans argue Congress should pass a short-term continuing resolution that would extend government funding until the start of the next Congress in January, where the GOP will have a majority in the House.
House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) reportedly told House Republicans he is a “hell no” on a full-year government spending package, CNN reported.
Bloomberg reported that between the House and Senate, the two chambers had published 7,509 earmarks in their proposed spending bills, bringing the total spending on earmarks to $16,012,972,565.
The full-year omnibus spending bill is expected to be $1.7 trillion. Further, the defense portion of the budget is expected to be $858 billion, according to Politico.
Jordan Dixon-Hamilton is a reporter for Breitbart News. Write to him at jdixonhamilton@breitbart.com or follow him on Twitter.
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