The four-note minibus is the first of two funding packages for fiscal year 2021 that House Democrats plan to approve at the end of the month. The House will take a seven billion and $ 1.4 billion package next week that would fund the Pentagon and the departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, Homeland Security, Justice, Transportation, Energy and more.
Once both packages are approved, House Democrats will have passed almost all of their fiscal appropriations bills by 2021, except for the measure that funds parts of the Legislative Branch. That bill did not include a cost-of-living adjustment for lawmakers, which several members believe is crucial to living in DC after enduring more than a decade of wage freezes. House leaders may still decide to bring the Legislative Branch bill to the ground as an independent measure.
The Congressional Progressive Caucus is also pushing to remove the $ 1.4 trillion massive minibus Homeland Security spending bill, with some members reluctant to fund agencies charged with implementing the president’s immigration agenda and carrying out paramilitary actions in Oregon. and Washington state.
But the Hispanic Caucus in Congress is backing the National Security bill, and top appropriators have no plans to get it off the ground. CHC President Joaquin Castro (D-Texas), representatives Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), Suzanne Bonamici (D-Ore.) And others have also tabled an amendment that would curb the administration’s efforts to quell the protests in Oregon and Washington.
“We really can’t afford to miss this,” Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-Calif.), Chair of the House’s House of Representatives National Security spending panel, told POLITICO. “We need to send a very clear message to DHS that this is not the usual thing. They have to be held accountable and there will be consequences. ”
The tax allocation process for 2021 is the last for retired President Nita Lowey (DN.Y.), who was the first woman to wield the gavel of the powerful committee.
“My parting request is this: don’t succumb to the widespread partisanship that permeates what may seem like every aspect of our professional lives, and sometimes even our personal lives,” he said earlier this month.
“He always strives to use the power of the bag to unlock the full potential of this nation,” he said.
The four-bill measure passed by the House on Friday would provide $ 65.9 billion for the State Department, the United States Agency for International Development and other programs, marking a $ 8.5 billion increase over current funds or an increase of almost 15 percent. That includes more than $ 10 billion for global efforts to combat the coronavirus pandemic.
