Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.) reached a $1.59 trillion agreement Sunday night to finance the 2024 federal government — the deal comes two weeks before a partial government shutdown would occur. The deal faces opposition from House Republicans, particularly the Freedom Caucus members, who consider it a “total failure” and “totally unacceptable.”
The agreement allocates $886.3 billion for defense spending and $772.7 billion for discretionary domestic spending. Notably, the deal also rescinds $6.1 billion in coronavirus-emergency-spending authority and advances cuts from $80 billion in new funding for the Internal Revenue Service, stripping $20 billion of that total this year.
Funding for roughly 20 percent of the government, including so-called essential programs like veterans’ assistance and food and drug services, runs out on January 19, with the rest of the government facing a funding deadline on February 2. Lawmakers have a tight deadline to pass legislation and avoid a partial government shutdown.
The House’s Freedom Caucus, posting on X, condemned the deal: ”It’s even worse than we thought. . . . The true programmatic spending level is $1.658 trillion — not $1.59 trillion. This is total failure.”
Disagreements have arisen over the IRS funding provisions, with Democrats agreeing to expedite a $20 billion cut while Republicans insist upon an additional $10 billion reduction.
The agreement is informed by a deal reached last spring to suspend the nation’s debt limit, with additional spending agreed upon between Biden and then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy. However, Republicans, led by Florida congressman Matt Gaetz (R.), ousted McCarthy for adhering to the agreement, leading to the selection of Mike Johnson as the new House Speaker.
“The bipartisan funding framework congressional leaders have reached moves us one step closer to preventing a needless government shutdown and protecting important national priorities,” President Biden said in a statement Sunday evening.