A bipartisan agreement is poised to ensure the government continues operating beyond the January 31st deadline. On May 7th, Republican Representative Tom Cole of Oklahoma attended a House Appropriations Committee hearing. Congress unveiled a bipartisan consensus agreement on Tuesday for the remaining four appropriations bills, raising hopes of averting another government shutdown by the end of the month. This $1.2 trillion spending package will fund the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security, Labor, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Transportation, and Education, covering the vast majority of federally controlled funds. With just over a week and a half remaining until the January 30th government funding deadline, Democratic lawmakers have recently raised concerns about Homeland Security funding following the death of a woman shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer in Minneapolis this month. However, top Democrats on the House and Senate Appropriations Committees have expressed support for the agreement. They stated that the Homeland Security funding bill covers agencies like FEMA, the TSA, and the Coast Guard. Furthermore, due to the $75 billion allocated by a Republican-passed tax and spending bill last year, ICE would continue to operate even during a shutdown. The longest government shutdown in U.S. history ended last November when lawmakers passed a bill funding the government until the end of January. Currently, lawmakers from both parties appear cautious about triggering another shutdown. Senator Patty Murray, the Democratic chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, stated in a release: "The suggestion that a shutdown now would somehow rein in this administration's lawlessness is not grounded in reality. Under a continuing resolution or a shutdown, this administration can continue all of its current practices — and without the key oversight constraints and limits that full-year funding bills provide." The compromise bill plans to allocate $10 billion to ICE while cutting $115 million from enforcement and removal operations. It also mandates that the Department of Homeland Security spend $20 million to equip ICE officers with body-worn cameras and allocates another $20 million for inspection and oversight of ICE detention facilities. The House of Representatives is expected to vote on the spending package later this week, with the Homeland Security bill receiving a separate vote. If passed by the House, the Senate must vote on the bill next week to prevent a government shutdown. The funding package introduces new directives concerning the use of appropriated funds by the White House Office of Management and Budget and rejects several of the administration's proposed budget cuts. For instance, it provides slightly more funding for the Department of Education than current levels, contrary to former President Donald Trump's proposal to cut its budget. Notably, the agreement does not address the expired Affordable Care Act subsidy enhancements from earlier this year but includes a bipartisan healthcare deal that will impose restrictions on the practices of prescription drug intermediaries known as Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs).
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