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  • A Pretty Big Mess

    By Manish Naik, Director of Legislative Services

    Congress returned to Washington from its annual August recess to political headlines that described the upcoming session as a “September of Reckoning” and a “Nightmarish Fall,” or to quote Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, “a pretty big mess.” That’s because Congress only has until the end of September to either finalize all of their appropriations bills for the upcoming fiscal year or pass an extension, known as a Continuing Resolution (CR). Congress rarely finishes all of their appropriations bill by September 30th, and with limited legislative days on the calendar between Labor Day and the end of the month, the most realistic expectation is the passage of a Continuing Resolution to give both sides more time to negotiate.

    An initial CR extending beyond September is usually not controversial if it simply pushes back the funding deadline and avoids a government shutdown. But at the moment, House conservatives are demanding additional policy changes as part of the extension on topics like abortion, border security, “woke” policies in the military, and the Justice Department’s prosecution of former President Trump. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has been urging the conservative members of his caucus to back a simple CR this month and save their policy fights for a later date, but so far they have resisted these calls.

    There are additional complications for Speaker McCarthy in getting support from his caucus, including the White House request for an additional $24 billion in supplemental funding for the war in Ukraine as well as disaster recovery for communities affected by the Maui wildfires and Hurricane Idalia. Conservative members also want to use the Fall session to initiate impeachment proceedings against President Biden, which Speaker McCarthy may have to support to avoid a removal vote that would strip him of his role as House leader.

    The big question for school districts in this saga is where FY 2024 education funding levels will end up, especially in light of the House’s Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education funding proposal that was approved by an appropriations subcommittee in July. That bill included enormous cuts to federal education programs, including a huge reduction in Title I for both the current and next school year, as well as the elimination of Title II funding for educator effectiveness and Title III funding for English learners. It remains unclear whether that bill will be considered and approved by the full appropriations committee or make its way to the floor for a vote by the full House of Representatives.

    Unfortunately, much of the upcoming drama could have been avoided if the House had followed the Senate’s lead this summer. After spending caps were negotiated and included as part of the debt ceiling deal in May, the Senate developed their FY 2024 appropriations bills based on those agreed-upon funding levels. Before they adjourned for the August recess, the Senate Appropriations Committee also passed all twelve of its spending bills on a bipartisan basis. By comparison, Speaker McCarthy and House leaders turned their backs on the debt ceiling deal and its spending levels almost immediately after passage this spring, as a result of calls from within their caucus to cut spending even further.

    The result of this big mess in Washington is the increasing possibility of a government shutdown starting on October 1st. A Continuing Resolution will be negotiated in the coming weeks and likely approved in the Senate, but it remains to be seen if Speaker McCarthy would bring an extension to the floor if enough of his caucus objects, even if the CR could pass the House with a mix of Democratic and Republican support. Districts, educators, and students will be spectators in this funding drama and have to hope that a potential government shutdown and the eventual decisions about federal education funding do not negatively impact schools that are still working to recover from COVID-19 and school closures.