Congress’ top Republican appropriators announced an agreement Saturday afternoon on overall totals for each of the nine funding bills lawmakers need to pass by the Jan. 30 shutdown deadline.
The deal between Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine) and House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole (R-Okla.) allows lawmakers in both chambers to kick off negotiations on the specifics of those spending measures. That includes the bill that funds the military and a handful of measures that cover a slew of nondefense agencies.
While the totals are not public, Cole said in a statement that they are below levels under the stopgap funding patch that expires at the end of January and align with President Donald Trump’s “clear direction to rein in runaway, beltway-driven spending.”
“We will now begin expeditiously drafting the remaining nine full-year bills to ensure we are ready to complete our work in January,” he added.
