Latest news with #HouseAppropriationsCommittee
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
GOP struggles to make up time on 2026 government funding work
House Republicans are trying to rev up their government funding work for fiscal 2026 after devoting weeks of energy to pushing through President Trump's megabill, but the timeline is slipping ahead of their coming August recess. With about 20 legislative days on the House calendar ahead of a Sept. 30 government shutdown deadline, top GOP negotiators now expect it will take them beyond August to send all 12 funding bills out of committee. 'Our schedule will take us into early September, which is something we wanted to try and avoid, but I think that's where we're at,' House Appropriations Committee Chair Tom Cole (R-Okla.) told reporters Tuesday. The holdup comes as both chambers are falling behind in hashing out full-year government bills, making a stopgap funding bill of some kind practically unavoidable to keep the lights on past September. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) expressed confidence to reporters Tuesday that House Republicans would be able to 'have well over 60 percent of all government funding' sent to the Senate for consideration before lawmakers 'break for August.' 'So, no change to the recess schedule right now. We're holding the calendar,' he said, as the House prepares to take up its annual defense funding bill, which calls for more than $830 billion in discretionary funding for fiscal 2026. But even if the bill passes, the House is staring down a tall challenge to get its remaining funding bills across the floor before the September shutdown deadline. So far, House Republicans have advanced five of their annual appropriations bills out of committee, with plans to mark up two more bills funding the departments of Energy, Housing and Urban Development, and Transportation on Thursday. House GOP appropriators said Tuesday that they're seeking $45 billion in cuts to federal funding from current levels, with a nearly 6 percent cut for nondefense programs. But they acknowledge their overall proposed funding top line doesn't go as far as the cuts proposed in President Trump's fiscal 2026 budget. 'We're getting pretty much what he wanted on defense, on veterans and on homeland, which are the three areas that he wanted, increase,' Cole told reporters. 'We cut every other bill. Did we cut as much as they wanted at [the Office of Budget and Management]? No, not in every instance, but we certainly looked at what they've given us thus far and tried to make informed decisions,' Cole said. In its budget request from earlier this year, the Trump administration sought to cut nondefense discretionary spending by $163 billion, or about 23 percent, while boosting dollars for defense programs and immigration enforcement. However, the budget request factors in the latter increases as part of the funding boosts greenlit in Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' that Republicans recently passed separate from the annual appropriations process. In total, House GOP negotiators set their proposed funding top line for fiscal 2026 at about $1.598 trillion, calling for about $892.5 billion for defense programs and $705.6 billion for nondefense programs. Republicans aren't expecting many, if any, Democratic votes to get the bills across, as their colleagues across the aisle have come out strongly against the funding cuts proposed in the bills and a slew of partisan riders in areas such as abortion and diversity seen as 'poison pills.' But despite the level of cuts proposed thus far by the House committee, the bills could still ruffle feathers with some hard-line conservatives. Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.), a member of the Appropriations Committee and the House Freedom Caucus, said Tuesday that he 'liked the president's budget' and that he thinks Republicans 'should hold to those levels.' In a letter addressed to senior House appropriators earlier this year, members of the hard-line conservative caucus pressed for funding negotiators to write bills 'consistent' with Trump's budget request and to 'reduce non-defense, non-veterans, discretionary spending to pre-COVID levels.' In remarks to reporters Tuesday, Cole defended the committee's spending bills for cutting spending' and said 'there's no reason why Republicans can't vote for bills that cut spending.' 'Our bills are cutting spending, and these bills, by the way, have to be in a bargaining position where they're going to have to pass the Senate for Democratic votes,' he said. 'So, this is not reconciliation,' he said, referring to the restrictive process Republicans used this month to pass a major package advancing Trump's tax priorities without Democratic support in the Senate. 'You can't play the game exactly the same way, but these bills all cuts spending.' At the same time, the Senate Appropriations Committee is expected to mark its 12 funding bills to an even higher top line, as Republicans have already begun negotiating with Democrats to craft bipartisan bills that can meet the upper chamber's 60-vote threshold needed to advance most legislation in the Senate. However, only two bills have been reported out of the Senate committee so far, and zero bills have passed the floor. Appropriators on both sides are hopeful to push more legislation out of committee in the coming weeks, but Democrats have warned a Republican effort to claw back funding previously approved by Congress for foreign aid and public broadcasting could jeopardize bipartisan spending talks. Emily Brooks contributed. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Fox News
2 days ago
- Politics
- Fox News
'DERANGEMENT SYNDROME': Rep. Ashley Hinson Responds to Dem Claims That Defunding NPR Would 'Devastate' Rural Communities
Congresswoman Ashley Hinson from Iowa's Second Congressional District and member of the House Appropriations Committee and the Select Committee on China, joined the Guy Benson Show today to discuss the Senate-passed recissions bill that will defund public media like NPR and PBS. Hinson discussed the passage of Trump's 'Big Beautiful Bill' and the benefit that it will bring Iowans, and she also weighed in on the potential of an open Senate seat in the state of Iowa. Listen to the full interview below! Listen to the full interview below: Listen to the full podcast below: Dylan Rolfsen
Politico
2 days ago
- Politics
- Politico
Congestion pricing and Jeffrey Epstein
GOIN' TO WAR WITH TRUMP: What do Gov. Kathy Hochul and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene have in common? They both want Attorney General Pam Bondi to release more files describing the crimes of Jeffrey Epstein. Or at least that was the cheeky demand today from the governor, who rhetorically asked reporters for 'answers' on why documents related to Epstein's case have allegedly been obstructed from public view. 'Let's talk about what New Yorkers really care about,' Hochul said wryly — and unprompted — at the start of the off-topic portion of her press conference in the Capitol today. 'Why won't the attorney general in Washington release the Jeffrey Epstein files?' she asked. 'Because I want to know what's in them. What are they hiding? What's the cover up all about? [That's what] I think New Yorkers have in their minds right now.' Hochul later clarified that she doesn't think the so-called Epstein files will be the driving issue of the 2026 election. But the Democratic governor does see it as a legitimate attack line against President Donald Trump and Republicans as states reel from the billions of dollars of federal cuts contained in their One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The governor held a press conference today where she excoriated Trump and the GOP for the massive bill — and she also decided to wade into the explosive issue dividing the MAGA movement. Republicans, meanwhile, had an attack of their own for the governor: the House Appropriations Committee adopted an amendment from Suffolk County Republican Nick LaLota today that would prevent federal funding to Hochul's congestion pricing program. The political crossfire is popping off as the governor — for the moment — maintains a direct line to Trump that she says enables them to discuss the negative impacts his megabill is having on Medicaid and immigration. How long that lasts is an open question. Hochul said today she'd be hitting the trail more as she attempts to weaken GOP support in New York. 'The relationship is cordial enough to have a conversation, which I think was what I wanted,' she said. 'I wanted to be able to convey the impacts on his home state.' Hochul will be with Democratic Rep. Pat Ryan tomorrow in Kingston — the home turf of her primary challenger Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado — where the two will highlight the effects of Trump's bill. 'To the extent that there's intentional infliction of pain on residents in the state, we'll be sure to make sure everyone knows about that,' Hochul said, adding that many people did not realize the impact of a Trump administration when they voted for one. 'The Jeffrey Epstein, I think it just simply points out trust from the people who have been supportive of the president,' she said. 'There's a trust gap there.' Despite Republicans' efforts to hamstring congestion pricing, the recent measure is largely symbolic, according to Danny Pearlstein, a spokesperson for the Riders Alliance transit advocacy group. 'It's a meaningless messaging bill and a waste of electricity,' he said. 'The program makes money, it doesn't cost money, so he's revealing what a weak hand he has to play to his MAGA base.' Hochul seemed to agree: 'Congestion pricing is working and the benefits of less traffic, faster trips, and safer streets are being felt across the region,' her spokesperson Sean Butler said. — Jason Beeferman From City Hall A LABORIOUS CHARTER REVIEW: A coalition of unions is fighting proposals by the mayor's charter commission to simplify and speed up housing development. The commission put forward a plan earlier this month that would curb the City Council's power to block housing projects in certain areas and create a faster process for subsidized housing and modest rezoning proposals. In a letter to commission chair Richard Buery, unions representing building-service, construction and hotel workers wrote they are 'united in opposing' ballot questions that would enact these housing reforms. The proposals would 'upend longstanding democratic traditions and threaten the processes that provide for good jobs that maintain and protect industry labor standards in the construction and building service sectors,' the letter states. Wage standards are often negotiated during the land use approval process, with council members sometimes tying their support for a project to the use of union labor. The unions continued: '[The city's existing land use process] is key to balancing power between developers and the communities where they build and the workers who make development possible. Without it, the labor standards the city has established over decades are at risk.' The letter was signed by the New York City Central Labor Council, the Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York, the Hotel and Gaming Trades Council, the New York City Council of Carpenters and 32BJ. In its report laying out the proposed ballot questions, the commission called the existing process a 'one-size-fits-all approach' that can be 'too long, costly, and unpredictable, even and sometimes especially for affordable housing supported by City funds.' 'If the city is going to build the housing it needs, housing that is affordable and accessible, then many zoning rules must change,' the report states. — Janaki Chadha FROM THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL OFFICER ADAMS: Law enforcement officials and union leaders endorsed Mayor Eric Adams' long-shot reelection bid Thursday, decrying the race's Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani as 'de Blasio 2.0.' The dozens of officers who rallied behind Adams on the City Hall steps juxtaposed the mayor's unflinching support for the city's scandal-ridden law enforcement agency with Mamdani's muddled stance on police funding. 'I can speak to every law enforcement person here, and there's a level of comfortability when I communicate with them because I am them,' Adams said. The rally comes just a day after former NYPD Commissioner Tom Donlon filed a federal lawsuit against Adams and current and former department brass, alleging widespread corruption in the nation's largest police force. Adams did not respond to a question about the ongoing lawsuit, which characterized the NYPD as a vast criminal enterprise. Other labor groups, including the influential unions representing teachers and municipal workers, have backed Mamdani in the general election — a fact Adams shrugged off at the rally. 'I know union heads went in another direction, but I'm going to speak to the members because they're one of us,' Adams said. 'We are going to reintroduce ourselves and the success that we've had in the city.' — Amira McKee IN OTHER NEWS — HOCHUL APPROVAL RATING INCREASES: The governor's job approval numbers are up, rising to 52-39 in a new poll, which did not measure favorability. (Morning Consult) — 'TOUCHING MORE PEOPLE': Looking to revamp his flailing primary campaign, Gov. Andrew Cuomo told the Daily News he'll focus on 'better use with social media, reaching out to more young people and touching more people' during his general election bid. (New York Daily News) — BROOKLYN BIKES: Adams has made a legal challenge over a Brooklyn bike lane in a predominantly Orthodox Jewish neighborhood a key issue in his reelection campaign. (Gothamist) — FAITH ENDORSEMENT: The Internal Revenue Service has okayed religious leaders endorsing candidates in the New York City mayor's race to their congregations. (The New York Times) Missed this morning's New York Playbook? We forgive you. Read it here.
The Hill
3 days ago
- Business
- The Hill
GOP struggles to make up time on 2026 government funding work
House Republicans are trying to rev up their government funding work for fiscal year 2026 after devoting weeks of energy to pushing through President Trump's megabill, but the timeline is slipping ahead of their coming August recess. With about 20 legislative days on the House calendar ahead of a Sept. 30 government shutdown deadline, top GOP negotiators now expect it will take them beyond August to send all 12 funding bills out of committee. 'Our schedule will take us into early September, which is something we wanted to try and avoid, but I think that's where we're at,' House Appropriations Committee Tom Cole (R-Okla.) told reporters on Tuesday. The hold up comes as both chambers are falling behind in hashing out their full-year government bills, making a stopgap funding bill of some kind practically unavoidable to keep the lights on past September. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) on Tuesday expressed confidence to reporters that House Republicans would be able to 'have well over 60 percent of all government funding' sent to the Senate for consideration before lawmakers 'break for August.' 'So no change to the recess schedule right now. We're holding the calendar,' he said, as the House prepares to take up its annual defense funding bill, which calls for more than $830 billion in discretionary funding for fiscal 2026. But even if the bill passes, the House is staring down a tall challenge to get its remaining funding bills across the floor before the September shutdown deadline. So far, House Republicans have advanced five of their annual appropriations bills out of committee, with plans to mark up two more bills funding the departments of Energy, Housing and Urban Development, and Transportation on Thursday. House GOP appropriators said Tuesday that they're seeking $45 billion in cuts to federal funding from current levels, with a nearly 6 percent cut for non-defense programs. But they acknowledge their overall proposed funding topline doesn't go as far as the cuts proposed in President Trump's fiscal 2026 budget. 'We're getting pretty much what he wanted on defense, on veterans and on homeland, which are the three areas that he wanted, increase,' Cole told reporters. 'We cut every other bill. Did we cut as much as they wanted at [the Office of Budget and Management]? No, not in every instance, but we certainly looked at what they've given us thus far and tried to make informed decisions,' Cole said. In its budget request from earlier this year, the Trump administration sought to cut nondefense discretionary spending by $163 billion, or about 23 percent, while boosting dollars for defense programs and immigration enforcement. However, the budget request factors in the latter increases as part of the funding boosts greenlit in Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' that Republicans recently passed separate from the annual appropriations process. In total, House GOP negotiators set their proposed funding topline for fiscal 2026 at about $1.598 trillion, calling for about $892.5 billion for defense programs and $705.6 billion for nondefense programs. Republicans aren't expecting many, if any, Democratic votes to get the bills across, as their colleagues across the aisle have come out strongly against the funding cuts proposed in the bills and a slew of partisan riders in areas like abortion and diversity efforts seen as 'poison pills.' But despite the level of cuts proposed thus far by the House committee, the bills could still ruffle feathers with some hardline conservatives. Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.), a member of the appropriations committee and the House Freedom Caucus, said Tuesday that he 'liked the president's budget' and that he thinks Republicans 'should hold to those levels.' In a letter addressed senior House appropriators earlier this year, members of the hardline conservative caucus pressed for funding negotiators to write bills 'consistent' with Trump's budget request and to 'reduce non-defense, non-veterans, discretionary spending to pre-COVID levels.' In remarks to reporters on Tuesday, Cole defended the committee's spending bills for cutting spending' and said 'there's no reason why Republicans can't vote for bills that cut spending.' 'Our bills are cutting spending, and these bills, by the way, have to be in a bargaining position where they're gonna have to pass the Senate for Democratic votes,' he said. 'So, this is not reconciliation,' he said, referring to the restrictive process Republicans used this month to pass a major package advancing Trump's tax priorities without Democratic support in the Senate. 'You can't play the game exactly the same way, but these bills all cuts spending.' At the same time, the Senate Appropriations Committee is expected to mark its 12 funding bills to an even higher topline, as Republicans have already begun negotiating with Democrats to craft bipartisan bills that can meet the upper chamber's 60-vote threshold needed to advance most legislation in the Senate. However, only two bills have been reported out of the Senate committee so far, and zero bills have passed the floor. Appropriators on both sides are hopeful to push more legislation out of committee in the coming weeks, but Democrats have warned a Republican effort to claw back funding previously approved by Congress for foreign aid and public broadcasting could jeopardize bipartisan spending talks.
E&E News
5 days ago
- Politics
- E&E News
Forest Service research survives in House spending bill
House appropriators Monday turned away a Trump administration effort to slash the Forest Service's research budget, proposing to hold spending steady at about $300 million in fiscal 2026. The proposal by the Republican-led House Appropriations Committee is part of an $8.5 billion annual spending plan for the Forest Service that largely ignores the administration's most far-reaching proposals. Total spending for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1 would be $16.8 million less than this year's level. Spending not directly tied to fire suppression would total $3.6 billion, or about $107 million less than this year. The measure is scheduled for a subcommittee markup Tuesday. Advertisement The research budget would total $302 million, of which $34 million would be reserved for forest inventory and analysis — the data-collecting operation that the administration hadn't looked to scale back.
