By Laura Walling, Vice President of Government Affairs, Goodwill Industries International
Before Congress adjourned for the month of October so lawmakers could hit the campaign trail, the House and Senate agreed to pass a short-term continuing resolution. Fiscal Year 2025 (FY25) began on October 1, 2024 and if an agreement hadn’t been reached, the government would have shut down. The continuing resolution provides FY25 appropriations to federal agencies through December 20, 2024.
The bill did not include supplemental disaster aid; it instead allows the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) the flexibility to spend at a faster rate of operations from the Disaster Relief Fund to respond to declared disasters during the duration of the continuing resolution. The continuing resolution also extends authorization for the National Flood Insurance Program and funding for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program for the duration of the continuing resolution.
President Biden recently said he may request Congress reconvene during the October break to pass emergency supplemental funding for storm recovery given the support needed for those impacted by Hurricane Helene. Lawmakers from hard-hit states have indicated a desire to return, while others think that FEMA has adequate funds, and additional funding can be addressed in December.
The election outcome will play a key role in what will happen when the December 20 deadline draws near, as a new Congress and Administration will have their own funding priorities. Speaker Johnson has vowed that the House will not approve a single, massive bill to fund the entire government in December. Johnson is also ruling out other large packages of funding legislation, such as “minibuses” — bills that combine funding for some, but not all, areas of government in the 12 appropriations bills.
The House has passed 5 of their 12 bills while the Senate hasn’t advanced any, however the House bills had many GOP priorities which the Democrat controlled Senate would not agree to. Negotiating the individual spending bills during a lame duck Congress where the House and Senate are still split and days before lawmakers want to return home for the holidays and adjourn the 118th Congress may prove difficult.
