Capitol Corner February 2024

Funding the Federal Government in FY24: Appropriations and Continuing Resolutions 

On January 18, 2024, both the U.S. House and Senate passed a third Continuing Resolution (CR) to keep the government operating while negotiations on FY24 appropriations continue. The new CR continues the laddered approach enacted in the previous CR by providing two deadlines that apply to different spending bills.   

Four bills, comprising approximately 20% of discretionary funding, fall under the March 1, 2024 deadline. The other eight bills, comprising about 80% of discretionary funding, fall under the March 8, 2024 deadline. 

As Congress works to finalize FY24 appropriations by these new deadlines, other deadlines imposed by the Fiscal Responsibility Act, often referred to as the “debt limit deal”, add some urgency to the process. If final FY24 appropriations are not in place by April 30, 2024, sequestration may be triggered. These roughly one percent cuts would apply to all non-exempt discretionary funding programs. 

On January 29, 2024, House and Senate appropriators reached an agreement on top level funding amounts, also known as 302(b) allocations. These allocations establish funding amounts for each of the 12 appropriations bills. With these key allocations set, lawmakers can now complete their work of setting line-by-line funding for all programs and offices in every federal agency. 

Although the 302(b) allocations had not been made public by the date of this article’s publication, appropriators undoubtedly face tough decisions within their allocations. Despite this, most appropriators believe they will reach agreement on these decisions by the March deadlines and well ahead of the April 30, 2024, deadline. 

No mention has yet been made of cutting Congressionally Directed Spending or Community Project Funding. The likely implication is that if the FY24 bills pass, either individually, or combined into packages, those projects would be included in their respective bills. However, if negotiations break down and Congress passes a full-year CR, that will mean all projects listed in the FY24 bills would not receive funding.