FY 2024 Appropriations Are Done, House Republicans Are Cannibalizing Themselves, Recess Begins
Jason Pye - Director, Rule of Law Initiatives
Point of Order is a (mostly) weekly preview of key congressional activity for those with more than a passing interest in federal policy.
Two-week recess begins: Both chambers skipped town as soon as they finished the FY 2024 appropriations process last week for a two-week Easter recess. The Senate will return on Monday, April 8, while the House will take an extra day. Point of Order will take a break next week. I’ll be with the family next week in the Outer Banks for a working vacation. We’re only sending one this week because there’s so much to recap.
FY 2024 appropriations are done: The House passed the final tranche of FY 2024 appropriations legislation on Friday by a vote of 286 to 134. The way it was passed was through a resolution, H.Res. 1102, to concur in the Senate amendment to H.R. 2882 with an amendment. More Republicans voted against the bill than for it, which has helped ramp up conservative criticism of the bill and Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA). More on that in a moment. The Senate passed H.R. 2882 in the wee hours of Saturday morning by a vote of 74 to 24. President Biden signed the bill into law on Saturday.
Oh, FY 2025 appropriations is right around the corner: The House Appropriations Committee has already started the process of hearings for FY 2025, and Members will undoubtedly begin turning their attention toward the process to get their priorities in front of the committee. Usually, this dominates the House side during the month of April. Section 300 of the Budget Act (2 U.S.C. §631) provides the timetable for Congress. The House may begin to consider annual appropriations bills on May 15. The process is slated for completion on June 30. Now, Section 300 is more like guidelines than actual rules, and Congress routinely treats the law like it doesn’t matter. Will Congress get the appropriations process done on time? Lol no. Will it be done before September 30? Hahahahahahahahahaha.
Granger steps down as House Approps chair: House Appropriations Committee Chair Kay Granger (R-TX), who isn’t seeking reelection, has asked Speaker Johnson and the House Republican Steering Committee to find a new chair. Granger’s logic is that the FY 2025 appropriations process won’t be completed “until well into the next fiscal year.” Granger, however, will stay on the committee as “Chair Emeritus.” Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK) has already announced that he’ll seek the post.
The House may have to find a new Speaker: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) filed a resolution, H.Res. 1103, on Friday to vacate the chair. As of right now, the resolution isn’t privileged, so a vote isn’t imminent, per se. Green could invoke privilege, starting a two-day clock for the House to vote on the motion. However, House Democrats have suggested that they will block the resolution if Speaker Johnson puts the Senate-passed national security bill, which includes aid for Ukraine, on the floor.
That House Republican majority will be whittled down by one more: Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) has announced that he will resign on April 19. With the resignation of Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO), Republicans currently have 218 seats. Gallagher’s departure will bring that down to 217. Democrats have 213 seats. Right now, Republicans can’t lose more than two votes on any legislation requiring a simple majority. There’s a special election in NY-26 on April 30 to replace former Rep. Brian Higgans (D-NY). That seat is expected to be a Democratic pickup. That’ll bring the divisions to 217 to 214. Republicans’ hopes improve going into the summer with special elections in three solidly Republican districts—CA-20 (May 21), OH-06 (June 11), and CO-04 (June 25). Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) has opted not to run in the special election in CO-04, although she is still running in the general primary for the seat that occurs on the same day.
Public defenders get a boost: We were stoked to see that Federal Defender Services got a $68 million funding boost in the Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) appropriations bill compared to FY 2023. Federal Defender Services—federal public defenders—provide a constitutionally required service under the Sixth Amendment. The original House FY 2024 FSGG bill provided $1.411 billion in funding to federal public defenders while the Senate mark provided only 1.382 billion. H.R. 2882 provides federal public defenders with $1.45 billion in FY 2024. Nearly 90 percent of individuals charged with a crime can’t afford an attorney, so the Federal Defender Services is crucial to upholding the constitutional rights to representation and a speedy trial. The $1.45 billion in H.R. 2882 is a good start and solid basis for additional funding in FY 2025.
More good news: According to preliminary data, murders, violent crime, and property crime fell in 2023. The only crime to see an increase was motor vehicle theft.
has a good breakdown of the data. These data are preliminary and not final. We won’t get the formal numbers until much later this year, either in September or October.Due Process Institute is a bipartisan nonprofit that works to honor, preserve, and restore principles of fairness in the criminal legal system. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.