Capitol Correspondence - 08.06.18

Senate Continues Budget Process Despite Presidential Veto Threat

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As shared by Politico Pro:

“Senators passed a four-bill spending package Wednesday, forging ahead in the federal funding process even as the president threatens to wreck it all with a veto-spurred government shutdown tied to border security.

In a 92-6 vote, the Republican-led Senate signed off on a bundle, H.R. 6147 (115), that includes one quarter of the 12 annual spending bills covering a host of federal agencies. Passed was fiscal 2019 funding for the departments of Agriculture, Transportation, Interior, Treasury and HUD, as well as the EPA and IRS.

After canceling all but one week of August recess, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced this week that leaders on both sides of the aisle aim to pass two more of the spending bills — Defense, S. 3159 (115), and Labor-HHS-Education, S. 3158 (115) — by month’s end.

‘We hope to be able to conference those bills with the House and send the president a series of conference reports covering those nine of 12 appropriation bills early after we get back from the Labor Day weekend break,’ McConnell said Tuesday.”

As a reminder, Congress has different August recess schedules this year. The House is on recess all of August while the Senate is only on recess the week of August 3-12.