The House and Senate narrowly avoided a government shutdown as the clock ticked down the final hours of the 2015 fiscal year on September 30, as lawmakers agreed on a continuing resolution (CR) that extends funding for EPA and other federal agencies until December 11. In late October Congress and the White House subsequently reached a tentative budget framework that should allow lawmakers to finalize the details of the FY16 appropriations plan by that date, though attempts to attach policy riders to the future spending legislation could prompt another budget standoff at the end of the year.
The CR approved by Congress and signed into law by President Obama (H.R. 719) continues FY15 funding levels for EPA and other federal agencies through December 11, minus a reduction of 0.21 percent. While it had been apparent for some time that a stopgap appropriations measure would be necessary to keep the government running (as none of the 12 annual spending bills had made it to the president’s desk), negotiations reached a standstill due to the insistence from some Republicans that any funding bill exclude dollars for Planned Parenthood. Senate Democrats blocked a spending bill with that restriction from advancing, and President Obama pledged to veto it if it reached his desk – making a government shutdown a distinct possibility.
The logjam was broken in late September when House Speaker John Boehner announced plans to resign from Congress. This led conservatives to drop their opposition to Planned Parenthood funding in a temporary appropriations bill, as they believed they would now have a chance to help select a new speaker who might take a harder line against Democrats and President Obama in the next round of budget negotiations. Wisconsin Republican Paul Ryan, is expected to be elected Speaker of the House on October 29.
However, late on October 26 Speaker Boehner, congressional Democrats, and the White House announced agreement on a two-year budget framework that would extend the debt ceiling through March of 2017 and raise the overall budget caps imposed by sequestration. This deal – which could receive a vote in Congress before the end of October – would give appropriators an additional $25 billion in discretionary funds to work with as they put together an omnibus FY16 spending bill by the December 11 deadline. Some of these additional funds could go toward funding the EPA budget, though congressional appropriators will make the final decision on allocation.
While the budget deal should help lawmakers reach agreement on a final FY16 spending bill, disputes are still possible over policy riders that members of each party may attempt to attach to the actual spending legislation. For example, conservatives could return to their insistence that Planned Parenthood not receive any funding, and may also propose bans on the use of funds for to implement EPA’s Clean Water Rule or its Clean Power Plan. Conversely, Democrats could attempt to attach provisions restricting the display of the Confederate flag to the next spending bill – revisiting a tactic that derailed the Interior-EPA appropriations bill in the House of Representatives over the summer. Any of these issues could lead to another budget stalemate that risks a government shutdown just before the holidays.