On September 30, a new fiscal year will begin and the authorization for a number of programs will expire. This week’s Brief takes a look at the history of Congressional action on appropriations measures and the reauthorization of aviation, farm, and defense programs.
Continuing Resolutions:
It is clear that Congress will not pass any FY 2024 appropriations bills before the new fiscal year begins October 1 and a continuing resolution (CR) will be needed to avoid a government shutdown. Senate leaders Chuck Schumer (D) and Mitch McConnell (R) are supportive of a CR until sometime in December, while House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R) is reportedly mulling a mid-November date. The Biden Administration is hoping that Congress will use the CR to also approve $44 billion in emergency spending, including $20.6 billion for Ukraine, $16 billion in disaster relief, and additional funding for enforcement efforts at the Mexican border, including reducing the flow of fentanyl across the border.
Whether lawmakers in both chambers will pass a CR by the end of the month is still an open question, but adopting CRs is a commonplace option - the last time no CRs were enacted was in 1996. Last year alone Congress was forced to pass three CRs, running from September 30 through December 31, 2022, before an FY 2023 omnibus bill packaging all 12 individual appropriations measures was signed into law on December 29. Even though Democrats controlled both the House and Senate, bipartisan buy-in was needed to overcome the 60-vote threshold in the Senate. It wasn’t until December that Democrats and Republicans were able to agree on a top-line funding level as well as the breakdown for defense and non-defense spending.
The same political dynamic, with Democrats in control but needing 60 votes in the Senate, was present in 2021 as lawmakers tried to find agreement on the FY 2022 appropriations measures. It took four CRs to fund the government, covering 166 days, before the parties found common ground on the top-line number as well as the defense/non-defense breakdown and finally agreed to an omnibus bill that was enacted on March 15, 2022.
In 2020 and 2021, the dynamic was different – there was divided government. President Donald Trump was in the White House, Republicans controlled the Senate, and Democrats held a majority in the House. Once again, though, multiple CRs were needed, and the final appropriations measures were not signed until late December. The final FY 2021 measure was an omnibus with all 12 bills, while Congress chose to package the FY 2020 bills into two minibuses, with four bills in one measure and the remaining eight in the other.
Government Shutdowns:
The most recent government shutdown occurred during the Trump Administration. With just a few days to spare before the 2019 fiscal year began on October 1, 2018, Congress approved five appropriations bills that were packaged into two minibuses; the rest of the government was funded through a CR into early December. This was followed by another CR through December 21.
At that point, though, Trump pledged that he would not sign still another CR unless Congress agreed to provide more than $5 billion in funds for a border wall – a demand unacceptable to Democrats. With Congress unable to pass another CR, those parts of the government that were not funded shut down on December 22, 2018. The partial shutdown lasted 35 days, until January 25, making it the longest shutdown in history, according to a Congressional Research Service report.
On January 25, 2019, Trump agreed to re-open the government without a deal on the border wall. By voice vote, both chambers quickly passed a CR providing funding through February 15, and Trump signed it that night. On February 14, the House and Senate cleared an appropriations package containing the seven FY 2019 bills that were not previously enacted. The measure provided $1.4 billion for border barriers as well as other border security funding. The president signed it into law the next day.
FAA Reauthorization:
The calendar is working against Congress coming to an agreement before September 30 on legislation reauthorizing programs of the Federal Aviation Administration. The Senate Commerce Committee has not yet marked up its version, due to a disagreement over pilot training requirements, while the House passed its version in mid-July. A short-term extension of FAA programs is expected to be approved before the end of the month.
The previous FAA bill was enacted in October 2018 and provided a five-year reauthorization, but the path to enactment was anything but smooth. It took three years and several extensions before a final agreement was hammered out. FAA programs authorized by the 2012 measure expired September 30, 2015, but lawmakers disagreed over proposals that would privatize the air traffic control system. The final version, signed by Trump in 2018, did not include the privatization language.
Farm Bill:
While the extension of FAA programs by September 30 is viewed as “must pass” legislation, there is a bit more wiggle room when it comes to programs authorized by the farm bill. When a farm bill expires, not all programs are affected equally. The 2018 farm bill generally expires either on September 30 or with the 2023 crop year, which varies by commodity. The first commodity that would be affected is dairy, whose crop year begins January 1, 2024. Authorization for other commodity programs expires later in 2024. Nutrition assistance programs such as SNAP (formerly food stamps) require periodic reauthorization, but appropriations can keep them operating. Some programs, such as crop insurance, have permanent authority and do not need to be reauthorized.
It’s possible that lawmakers may not pass an extension before the September 30 expiration and, instead, concentrate their efforts on passing a 2023 farm bill before the end of the year. In a recent report, the Congressional Research Service examined the timing and consequences of the expiration of farm bill programs. The report notes that Congress did not pass any extensions of the 2014 farm bill in the fall of 2018. When the fiscal year provisions of the 2014 farm bill began expiring on October 1, 2018, regular appropriations acts allowed many programs to continue operations without specifically mentioning farm bill expiration. The 2018 farm bill was enacted on December 20, 2018, before permanent law for the farm commodity programs would have taken effect on January 1, 2019.
Prior to the August recess, House Agriculture Committee Chairman GT Thompson (R-PA) said he planned to release draft legislation early this month, with committee markup possible mid-month. However, that tentative schedule appears to be delayed. The talk now is that Chairman Thompson will not release the draft until later when he has assurance from House leaders that they can block off a week for floor consideration. The Senate committee draft is not expected to be released until October, at the earliest.
National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA):
On December 23, 2022, Biden signed into law the National Defense Authorization Act of FY 2023, marking the 62nd consecutive year the measure has been enacted. While the annual legislation authorizes defense programs on a fiscal year basis, final action typically doesn’t take place until December and programs continue after September 30 without Congress passing a short-term extension. Since FY 2013, only twice has the NDAA been enacted before December (FY 2019 and 2016), and in both cases, the House and Senate were held by the same party.
This year, the Senate voted 86-11 on July 27 to pass a bipartisan NDAA bill, which is in marked contrast to the measure passed by the House on July 14 on a narrow 219-210 vote, with only four Democrats in support (and four Republicans voting against). Because of its provisions dealing with abortion, transgender medical care, and diversity programs, the House measure will have to be watered down during House-Senate negotiations to win 60 votes in the Democratic-controlled Senate.
