federal spending

U.S. House passes stopgap spending bill in bipartisan vote, in crucial test for new speaker

BY: - November 14, 2023

WASHINGTON — The U.S. House took a broadly bipartisan vote Tuesday to fund the government into the new year, though the measure must pass the Senate by the end of the week if Congress is going to avoid a partial government shutdown. The 336-95 House vote was the first major legislative test for Speaker Mike […]

Congress nears another government shutdown deadline on Friday at midnight

BY: - November 13, 2023

WASHINGTON — Congress on Monday appeared to be on the edge of approving another short-term government funding bill this week, though several hurdles remain if lawmakers want to stave off a partial government shutdown when the current funding law expires at the end of the week. Democratic leaders and President Joe Biden expressed some skepticism […]

U.S. House GOP in spending bills takes aim at federal LGBTQ, racial equity policies 

BY: - November 6, 2023

U.S. House Republicans are continuing to use government spending bills to engage in culture war battles, with legislation debated during the past week that would ban pride flags on some federal buildings, strip funding from a new museum for Latino history and target certain LGBTQ and racial equity policies and programs. The hot-button provisions in […]

The U.S. Capitol. (Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)

Spending mess in Congress could arch over into pivotal 2024 election year

BY: - November 3, 2023

WASHINGTON — Congress will need to pass a second stopgap funding measure before Thanksgiving if lawmakers want to avoid a government shutdown, though pushing off final decisions on full-year spending bills until next year would put lawmakers smack dab in the middle of what’s expected to be a contentious 2024 primary season. During election years, […]

Arkansas’ Womack to seek 8th term in Congress

BY: - September 13, 2023

U.S. Rep. Steve Womack, an influential Republican who has been a vocal critic of some of his party’s far-right members, will seek an eighth term representing Arkansas’ 3rd Congressional District.  Womack, a retired Army colonel, had reportedly been weighing retirement at the end of 2024, but he said earlier this year that he’d make a […]

Amid government spending fight, U.S. House GOP punts on debating major defense bill

BY: - September 13, 2023

WASHINGTON — U.S. House Republicans sidetracked debate on the massive Defense spending bill at the last minute on Wednesday, removing it from the daily schedule just as the chamber gaveled into session. The decision follows public opposition from especially conservative Republicans to advancing any government funding measure in the absence of a written commitment from […]

That 1% cut in federal spending in the debt limit law? It’s complicated.

BY: - August 16, 2023

WASHINGTON — The debt limit law Congress approved earlier this year included a much-publicized provision that would cut all federal spending by 1% if Republicans and Democrats fail to reach agreement on the dozen government funding bills before Jan. 1. That sounds pretty threatening. But, the across-the-board automatic spending cut wouldn’t actually have any real-world […]

U.S. House spending bill for the VA renews fight over abortion access, transgender care

BY: - July 27, 2023

WASHINGTON — U.S. House Republicans approved their first government spending bill Thursday, following tense debate about whether the Department of Veterans Affairs should provide abortions in limited circumstances and the GOP’s decision to cut military construction funding. The 219-211 mostly party-line vote on the Military Construction-VA appropriations bill sends the measure to the Senate, where […]

‘We should not fear a government shutdown’: Far-right U.S. House members slam spending bills

BY: - July 25, 2023

WASHINGTON — A handful of ultra-conservative U.S. House Republicans rebuked their leadership on Tuesday over the annual government funding process, but appeared at odds on whether they should force a government shutdown later this year. Arizona Rep. Andy Biggs at a news conference mostly ruled out a funding lapse, though Virginia Rep. Bob Good left […]

Louisiana GOP Rep. Garret Graves, left, and North Carolina Republican Rep. Patrick McHenry speak with reporters about debt limit and government spending negotiations outside the Republican National Committee in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, May 23, 2023. (Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)

Treasury secretary pinpoints June 5 as earliest date for U.S. debt default

BY: - May 26, 2023

This story was updated to include Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s latest estimates on a debt limit deadline. WASHINGTON — Republicans in Congress and the Biden administration have until at least June 5 to broker and enact a debt limit bill under new estimates from the Treasury Department, giving negotiators a few more days before the […]

U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican, holds a press conference inside the U.S. Capitol’s Statuary Hall on the debt limit and government spending negotiations on Wednesday, May 24, 2023. (Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)

After years of bipartisan spending boosts, U.S. House GOP won’t lift debt ceiling without cuts

BY: - May 25, 2023

WASHINGTON — Republicans and Democrats in Congress together brokered dozens of debt limit agreements, including several during the past decade, marked by a desire in both political parties to increase federal spending. But U.S. House Republicans now are pushing for the federal government to spend less next year than it will this year in order […]

U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-California, speaks about the national debt limit crisis at the New York Stock Exchange on Monday, April 17, 2023. (Screenshot from speaker's office webcast)

U.S. House GOP unveils plan on debt ceiling, spending cuts; Biden slams ‘wacko notions’

BY: - April 19, 2023

WASHINGTON — U.S. House Republicans unveiled a debt limit proposal Wednesday that would lift the nation’s borrowing capacity by $1.5 trillion or suspend it through March.  The bill, introduced by Speaker Kevin McCarthy, carries along with it numerous Republican initiatives that are unlikely to get the bipartisan support necessary to clear the divided Congress.  That […]