Johnson sells GOP 'victories' in marketing his first bipartisan funding bills

Congressional leaders released bill text Sunday afternoon of half a dozen spending measures, a critical step toward funding the government after months of political turmoil spurred by House conservative demands to slash federal budgets.

Top lawmakers hope to pass the six-bill package this week, to head off a partial government shutdown just after midnight Saturday morning. More than five months into the fiscal year, that bundle would update funding and policy directives for more than a dozen federal departments and independent agencies that handle transportation, energy, housing, agriculture and veterans programs, among others.

Speaker Mike Johnson is under pressure to tout GOP "wins," as his conservatives claim he came away empty-handed from negotiations with Democrats. The speaker said in a statement Sunday afternoon that House Republicans "secured key conservative policy victories, rejected left-wing proposals, and imposed sharp cuts to agencies and programs critical" to President Joe Biden's agenda.

The package totals more than $459 billion, including side adjustments such as emergency money.

Clearing that first slate of measures for Biden’s signature would complete half the stack of 12 annual spending bills. But the six other measures now set to expire after March 22 are expected to be far more difficult to negotiate and pass, since they contain about 70 percent of the overall funding and the most controversial policy decisions, affecting budgets for the Pentagon, health programs, education and many others.

In touting the funding package finalized on Sunday, Johnson pointed to language that would block the Justice Department from targeting parents who speak before school boards. He also noted policy that would preserve gun rights for military veterans who need fiduciary help with their VA benefits. The Senate adopted those protections as an amendment last fall, but Democrats fought against including it in the final package.

In a win for Democrats, the final deal would provide $7 billion for the WIC nutrition assistance program for moms and babies, a $1 billion increase over current levels. The package does not include a proposal pushed by Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.) to create a voluntary pilot program aimed at restricting SNAP food aid purchases, which Republicans had offered in exchange for the extra $1 billion that was sought for WIC, which is facing a funding shortfall that would force the program to deny help to some eligible families.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer stressed in a statement that the package “fully funds the vital WIC program," along with “critical investments in our infrastructure, and strengthens programs that benefit services for our veterans.” Full funding for WIC "should never have been in question," Senate Appropriations Chair Patty Murray (D-Wash.) said, adding that she hopes Republicans realize that cutting the program is shortsighted since "a dollar spent on WIC saves taxpayers more than a dollar in the future.”

A number of cuts included in the package stem from the fact that congressional leaders are dealing with limited funding for domestic programs, first set by last summer’s debt deal and reinforced under a new agreement in January, which holds non-defense funding for the current fiscal year essentially flat.

Johnson also touted cuts to agencies Republicans criticize for over-regulation and the politicization of government, including a 7 percent cut to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, a 6 percent decrease for the FBI and a 10 percent slice to the EPA’s budget.

House conservatives argue that their leadership has failed to buck the typical “broken” funding cycle they set out to reform when they swore in former Speaker Kevin McCarthy last year and then ousted him from that post shortly after he passed the first funding patch last fall.

A House Republican leadership aide argued Sunday that the annual appropriations process this time around has been more robust than in previous years, with more members engaged and increased transparency.

While the package is not the usual 12-bill “omnibus” that combines all of the annual funding measures, leaders still negotiated it behind closed doors, keeping funding totals and policy stipulations secret until the final rollout.

Bundling six measures into one bill will help speed up passage, especially in the Senate, while also making it easier to whip support, since lawmakers are forced to vote on funding for popular accounts like veterans programs alongside others that have less support.