November 17th

This week in MORE POWER:
Government To Stay Open Until 2024
Budget Bill Limbo
House Impeachment Stunting
Biden Aid Bill Still On Hold
Budget Progress Update

Government To Stay Open Until 2024

Congress met today’s deadline to keep the federal government open and avoid a shutdown by passing a temporary funding bill called the Further Continuing Appropriations and Other Extensions Act. Both chambers voted yes on it in big bipartisan numbers: 336-95 in the House and 87-11 in the Senate. President Biden signed it into law, so the possibility of a federal government shutdown is on pause until 2024, buying more time to negotiate the annual budget.

The bill funds the parts of the government impacted by the Agriculture, Energy and Water, Military Construction-VA and Transportation-HUD budget bills through January 19, 2024. The parts of the government that fall under the eight other budget bills are funded through February 2, 2024. Members of Congress consider the bill to be relatively “clean,” meaning that there were no funding cuts or policy changes hidden in it. The bill also does not contain any of the military or humanitarian aid that President Biden asked Congress for. You can use the links above to read about the bills and take action.

Budget Bill Limbo

This week, House leadership scheduled votes on the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act and the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act. Conservative members blocked votes on both bills as they have grievances with the Justice Department’s investigations into Trump and Health and Human Services policy on abortion. As they are unlikely to shift government policy, the hard-right members are using both bills to cause a stir in order to delay passage.

These two bills now join the Agriculture, Transportation-HUD, and Financial Services budget bills in limbo. House Leadership must develop a plan to get enough votes to pass them before the 2024 budget deadlines, or parts of the federal government could shut down. You can use the links above to read about the bills and take action.

House Impeachment Stunting

House Republican leadership scheduled a vote on a resolution from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green, (R-GA) to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for high crimes and misdemeanors related to the number of migrants and the amount of fentanyl crossing the U.S.-Mexico border, but members failed to give it enough support to pass. Another House Republican impeachment resolution could get a vote at any time - this one to impeach President Biden.

Lately, many on the Hill are talking about using impeachment as a public relations move to win the news cycle in an attempt to persuade voters in upcoming elections, rather than using it as a good faith tool to right a wrong done by a member of the federal government. Have a view on this that you would like to share?

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Biden Aid Bill Still On Hold

Earlier this month, the House passed the Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act to provide $14.3B in aid to Israel while cutting funds to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The bill is now in the Senate, but Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, (D-NY) called it a “deeply flawed proposal,” so a vote there is very unlikely.

The Senate is expected to craft a bill on Biden’s request for $106B in military aid to Israel, Ukraine, Taiwan and the southern U.S. border instead. The request includes $10B in humanitarian assistance for Israel, Gaza, the West Bank, and Ukraine. But the chamber put the bill on hold until after Thanksgiving so they could focus on the budget instead.

The Biden administration has been changing its language on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, a move that is likely in response to growing public outrage over Israel’s bombardment of civilian populated areas. The pressure is not only coming from outside the government- more than 1,000 United States Agency for International Development (USAID) workers and more than 500 U.S. officials have signed letters criticizing the U.S. government’s position. Have a view on this that you would like to share?

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