Congress Considers Appropriations Bills As Government Shutdown Looms

Both Houses of Congress were in session last week with differing results on trying to move an agenda forward. The U.S. Senate has voted 85-12 to move forward with a measure that will encompass three appropriations bills: Military Construction-Veterans Affairs; Agriculture-Food & Drug Administration; and Transportation-Housing & Urban Development. The bill also contains President Biden’s requested supplemental funding for Ukraine and recover funds for natural disasters, such as the Maui wildfire and Hurricane Hilary that struck the West coast late last month. The Senate is expected to pass the measure with all three bills and the supplemental this week.

Following completion of that bill, the Senate intends to take up legislation that would allow the federal government to remain open after the beginning of the new fiscal year on Oct. 1—just nine business days from now. However, U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) objected to a procedural request to expedite consideration of the bill and the Senate is faced with taking much more time to complete the bill than planned.

Moving over to the U.S. House of Representatives, House Republican leadership intended to bring the House Defense Authorization bill to the floor last week, but caucus members could not agree on a way forward. Discussions continued and House Rules Committee Chairman Tom Cole, Ph.D., (R-OK) described the situation best, “Nobody’s objecting to what’s in the bill. Everybody’s trying to leverage the bill for something now.”

For now, the House plans to take up the Defense Appropriations bill this week and go from there.

This is not the first, and probably not the last time, the House majority will have trouble agreeing on a way forward. In the meantime, there is growing concern about a government shutdown. The effect that will have on oral health education includes a likely pause in expected grant payments. For instance, if your institution or program is due a check from a grant that has already been awarded, it will likely be delayed—not because the government does not have the funds, but because it does not have the authority to issue the check in the absence of a budget document, and probably neither the staff to process it. In a shutdown, only essential personnel are permitted to work, which means that only those functions that protect the infrastructure and assets of the government are allowed to do their job.