Prior to the Memorial Day recess, four appropriations bills were approved at the subcommittee level—Homeland Security, Military Construction-VA, Interior, and Energy and Water. These four bills are a combined $9.1 billion above the President’s request.
The tentative schedule for June is as follows: Homeland Security, Military Construction-VA, Energy and Water, and Interior are being considered in full committee this week and slated to see floor action next week. State-Foreign Operations, Financial Services, Legislative Branch, and Labor-HHS will be considered in full committee next week, and will likely be on the floor during the week of June 18th. THUD, Agriculture, and CJS will be considered in committee the week after, and be on the floor the week of June 25th.
The total amount of spending available to appropriators ($953 billion) was set by the budget resolution. Tuesday, the Appropriations Committee set its 302(b) allocation, which divides this total amount of spending between the 12 appropriations bills. Of note, every appropriations bill would receive an increase compared to FY 2007 of an amount ranging from 4.3 percent to as much as 30.1 percent.
In addition, the total amount of money provided to the appropriators in these 12 bills exceeds the President’s request by $23 billion, which is the amount of savings House Republicans can potentially deliver to taxpayers by sustaining vetoes that hold the line at the President’s lower spending level for discretionary spending.