Dear Nonprofit Security Friends,
Appropriations Update
With the federal government reopened and Congress back from an extended Thanksgiving recess, there remains about three weeks on the legislative calendar for Congress to complete its legislative agenda for the first year of the 119th Congress.
One of Congress’s major and exclusive responsibilities is the “power of the purse,” which includes authorizing all federal spending and appropriations. For decades, Congress has regularly/annually fallen short of meeting this obligation within the statutory timeframe.
This year is no different. In reopening the government, Congress gave itself until January 30 to complete the appropriations work for the current fiscal year (FY 2026), which began on October 1st.
There was an expectation leading into the holiday recess that a large package of outstanding bills could be passed before Christmas. Earlier this week, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) threw cold water on this prospect.
He indicated that the upper chamber would be focused on an agenda that includes extending health insurance subsidies that expire at month’s end, passing the annual defense authorization bill (which in 2023 included important NSGP improvements), and confirming executive branch nominations (not including filling the vacancy at FEMA, where no nomination has been submitted). [I note that as of this writing, it appears that it is unlikely Congress will reach a bipartisan compromise to avert healthcare premium increases.]
Thune said that this means there is no time to move the outstanding 2026 spending bills this calendar year.
Notwithstanding, appropriators are still focused on passing a large minibus spending package that includes Labor-HHS-Education, Commerce-Justice-Science, Interior-Environment, and Transportation-HUD bills. If they are to succeed, much work on the bills would need to be completed by the week’s end – a long shot.
Leading into the Thanksgiving recess, there had been several holds placed on the various bills by Senate Republicans, slowing the majority’s own progress. A number of holds still remain that would need to be addressed to clear a path forward.
Even if the Senate were able to pass a package of spending bills and send it to the House, the House and Senate have other impediments. They have not reached bipartisan, bi-cameral agreement on topline spending limits for the year or what might be included in the package at hand. The House has its own preferences.
There remain 9 outstanding spending bills for the year, including for Homeland Security (and the NSGP program). What we can hope for is that the House and Senate will work to (informally) work out as many differences as possible leading into the next calendar year, so that when Congress reconvenes in early January, they will be in a good place to get bills done before the expiration of the current stop gap spending bill (Continuing Resolution (CR)) on January 30.
At this juncture, it is likely that any bills not completed by the CR deadline would be funded by another full-year continuing resolution – an unprecedented prospect of Congress potentially abdicating its responsibility over spending decisions for a second consecutive year.
Best,
Rob Goldberg
Principal
Goldberg and Associates, LLC
In partnership with Sphere State
To access content page: https://spherestate.com/resilience/security-for-nonprofits-blog/
To inquire about subscription plans: info@spherestate.com