Senate to step up funding efforts for 2025 in July

Senate Appropriations Chairwoman Patty Murray (D-Wash.) said the upper chamber is expected to increase its full-year funding bills for fiscal 2025 in early July, as negotiators have struggled to come up with a bipartisan agreement on overall spending.

Murray said Tuesday that he plans to hold the first appointment “the week we return from the Fourth of July break,” adding that he hopes to “work with all of my colleagues to ensure we meet this moment.”

The move comes as the House has already ramped up its annual appropriations work for fiscal year 2025, with ambitious plans to have all 12 funding bills passed in committee and on the floor by the August recess.

The GOP-backed bills are filled with partisan proposals that have drawn attacks from Democrats who call the measures “poison pills.” The bills are also written at funding levels that Democrats say undermine a bipartisan agreement reached between the White House and Republican leadership last year to raise the debt limit and establish new spending limits.

In his comments on Tuesday, Murray took aim at the limits agreed to in the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA), a key component of the previous debt limit agreement, while also emphasizing the importance of parity in increases in defense funding. and non-defensive programs.

“The Appropriations Committee has already held nearly 40 hearings on the resources we will need in fiscal year 2025. We have discussed exactly what our nation needs to remain strong, secure and competitive,” she said.

“And there’s one big obvious takeaway from these hearings: FRA’s limits for FY ’24 are already causing serious problems and serious challenges, and the limits for FY ’25 are woefully inadequate,” she said.

Murray went on to discuss some of the challenges lawmakers face in crafting this year’s funding bills in line with the levels established in the debt limit agreement that limits growth to 1% for government financing in fiscal year 2025.

“Non-defense funding, except for veterans’ health care, is down 6 percent from 2010 when adjusting for inflation, and down 14 percent when adjusting for inflation and population growth,” she argued. “This is not just a number on a page. This is less support for families. Fewer research grants to keep us at the forefront. Fewer cops cracking down on crime and neighborhoods.”

“I’m now pleased that many of my Republican colleagues are in strong agreement, at least when it comes to defense. But every senator who advocates only increasing defense spending is seriously missing the point,” she added. “And any senator who thinks I’m going to let us move on from non-defense spending is misreading the situation.”

Currently, Congress has until the end of September – when the 2025 fiscal year is scheduled to begin – to pass legislation to keep the government open.

Members already expect that a palliative will be necessary to avoid a strike. While there is still no consensus on the potential duration, lawmakers have been pushing for a stopgap solution that extends beyond the November elections — when control of the White House, House and Senate are at stake.

This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story