Appropriators Not Close on Government Funding for FY23

Government funding expires at the end of September and congressional appropriators are not particularly close to passing appropriations bills for fiscal year 2023.

While House Appropriations Committee Democrats are working to schedule floor votes on some of the 12 annual spending bills in July, the Senate Appropriations Committee has been deadlocked on top spending levels for defense and domestic spending bills for months, raising the likelihood of another continuing resolution to fund the government past Sept. 30.

The Senate is out of session until the week of July 11 and the Senate appropriations process was thrown into further uncertainty by news that Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Patrick Leahy (D-VT) had surgery last week to repair a broken hip.

Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL), the ranking Republican on Appropriations, wants a significant increase in defense spending above inflation.

“Until the Democrats think seriously about that, it’s not going anywhere,” Shelby said last month. “It’s stalled, this is nothing new. It stalled last year until we finally put it together.”