WASHINGTON (AP) — Congressional leaders are nearing unveiling a spending deal that will keep the federal government funded through March 14 and provide more than $100 billion in emergency aid to help states and local communities recover from Hurricanes Helene and Milton and others natural disasters. disasters.
The emergency measure would prevent a partial government shutdown that would begin after midnight on Friday. It would leave final decisions on this budget year’s spending levels to a new Republican-led Congress and newly elected President Donald Trump. The continuing resolution generally continues current levels of agency spending.
Passing the measure is one of the last actions lawmakers will consider this week before suspending the holidays and making way for the next Congress. It’s the second short-term funding measure lawmakers have taken this fall as they struggled to pass dozens of annual appropriations bills before the new fiscal year began on Oct. 1, as they typically do.
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Although the text of the legislation was not yet available Tuesday, Republican lawmakers emerged from a closed-door meeting saying disaster relief would amount to about $100 billion, plus another $10 billion in economic aid that would become available posed to farmers.
“We need to be able to help those who are in this difficult situation,” House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters.
Net farm income is expected to fall 4.1% this year after falling 19.4% the year before from record highs in 2022. While aid to farmers is not as high as some lawmakers would have liked, Johnson indicated that more assistance could be provided in the future. next Congress, and said, “we can’t do it all now.”
“Congress is doing the best it can under difficult circumstances, and I think it will be a big boost for the industry,” Johnson said.
President Joe Biden has requested about $114 billion in disaster aid and submitted a $99 billion request in November, telling lawmakers the funding was “urgently needed.” The administration subsequently updated its request to include funding to repair federal facilities damaged as a result of natural disasters.
As usual, Congress is expected to act just before a new shutdown deadline. Republicans in the House of Representatives generally give lawmakers 72 hours to revise the text of the legislation, which would push a vote on final passage to Friday if they stick to that rule. The Senate is also not known for moving quickly, but many lawmakers would like to postpone the session for a year and make way for the next Congress.
Johnson said he hoped the text of the bill would be available later Tuesday, but Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said “bipartisan negotiations continue.”
“It’s clear that we’re getting closer to the December 20 deadline, so it’s critical that Republicans reach an agreement with us that we can take action on quickly,” Schumer said.
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Associated Press writer Stephen Groves contributed to this report.
