Congressional Leaders Reach Tentative Budget Deal

Congress returns to Washington after the holidays with a very full agenda. Fiscal year 2024 appropriations still must be resolved. Congress avoided a government shutdown in late 2023 by passing a bifurcated continuing resolution extending funding for the agricultural appropriations bill and three others to January 19^th and the remaining bills through February 2^nd. There was increasing uncertainty about whether Congress would be able to complete appropriations legislation prior to those deadlines. There were ongoing disagreements about topline spending levels and Republicans were also pressing for more resources to improve border security. On January 7^th, Speaker Johnson announced that Congressional leaders reached an agreement on overall spending levels, setting the funding cap for the 12 appropriations bills at $1.59 trillion. The deal includes a set of budget moves pushed by Democrats to would reduce the immediate impacts of cuts on domestic programs, with the exception of accelerating $10 billion in reductions to the Internal Revenue Service and canceling $6 billion in unspent pandemic funds. The announcement paves the way for the Appropriations Committees to proceed with finalizing individual appropriations bills.  However, the agreement is likely to draw opposition from some House Republicans and a partial government shutdown is still possible as the process moves forward. Speaker Johnson has indicated that will not support additional continuing resolutions.

In addition to funding the government, Congress is facing several deadlines on key legislation in 2024. The 2018 Farm Bill was extended through September 2024, giving Congress additional time to pass a new bill. House Agriculture Committee Chairman Thompson (R-PA) has stated his goal is to complete House work on the bill in the first quarter of 2024.