House Votes to Avert Rail Strike; Appropriators Make Incremental Progress on FY 2023 Spending Agreement
December 1, 2022
Following the Thanksgiving break, lawmakers returned to the nation’s capital this week to chip away at a lengthy legislative to-do list. However, in addition to their anticipated workload, lawmakers have had to divert their attention to a contract dispute between freight railroads and their unions. With just a week before a potentially crippling rail strike begins, President Biden called on Congress to step in and codify a deal he helped broker in September.
On December 30, the House voted on two separate resolutions. The first measure (H.J. Res. 100), which passed with strong bipartisan support, would codify the Biden-negotiated agreement. It includes a 24 percent pay increase for workers and one day of paid sick leave. The second bill (H. Con. Res. 119), which advanced largely along party lines, would increase the paid sick leave provision for union workers to seven days. Looking ahead, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has pledged to consider the agreement as soon as possible. While H.J. Res 100 is expected to pass, it’s unclear at this point if the paid-sick leave resolution has the necessary support to advance.
Once the prospect of a rail strike is averted, both chambers will continue negotiations on a year-end spending agreement. To date, none of the 12 annual spending bills for the fiscal year that began on October 1st have been signed into law. Instead, the federal government has been operating under a stopgap funding measure that is set to expire on December 16. By all accounts, party leaders are committed to passing an omnibus spending package that would fund the entirety of the government through next September.
In order to move forward, lawmakers will need to agree on top-line spending levels and address several controversial issues that have bogged down this year’s budget process. While negotiators have made little progress in the past month, talks are expected to heat up in the coming weeks. In fact, the Senate’s top two appropriators recently traded proposals on overall funding levels for defense and nondefense programs. While they are still tens of billions of dollars apart, this is a key step to cementing a bipartisan budget deal.
With limited time remaining before the current stopgap measure expires, Democratic leaders are also discussing the possibility of another short-term extension. As a last resort, and should congressional leaders ultimately fail to come to an agreement, there is a possibility that lawmakers could consider a year-long stopgap measure.
It should be noted that the Biden administration has also requested nearly $38 billion in additional U.S. economic and military aid to Ukraine, as well as $10 billion in emergency health funding to address current and long-term COVID needs, among other things. In addition, the White House is expected to ask for additional disaster relief to address this year’s hurricanes and wildfires.
Finally, and with regard to the fiscal year 2024 appropriations process, the House Republican conference on November 30 overwhelmingly rejected an amendment – offered by Congressman Tom McClintock (R-CA) – that would ban members from seeking earmarks in congressional spending bills. As a result, earmarks – known as Community Project Funding in the House and Congressionally Directed Spending in the Senate – are expected to remain in place for the 118th Congress.