The Senate on Thursday passed its budget agreement for the next two fiscal years (2020 and 2021), which will set top-line spending levels for defense and domestic programs and a two-year extension of the debt limit. The agreement provides a 4.5 percent overall increase in FY 20 for domestic programs above FY 19 funding levels.
Although the Senate now begins a five-week recess, Appropriations Committee Chair Richard Shelby (R-Alabama) is moving forward to prepare his FY 20 appropriations bills. He aims to begin marks-ups of the bills when Congress returns to Washington in the second week of September. But completing the process will be a challenge with the new fiscal year beginning on October 1.
Meanwhile, the House already has passed most of its appropriations bills, though it will have to revisit them given the budget agreement, which provides $15 billion less overall funding for domestic programs. While the budget agreement increases overall funding in FY 20 for domestic programs, it is less than the House included and will require reductions in proposed funding levels for many programs in the House Labor-HHS bill — which includes appropriations for higher education and workforce training programs — during conference negotiations with the Senate.