Rule for Consideration of HR 2577 –

The House Rules Committee met last night to formulate the rule for consideration of the Senate amendment to HR 2577, which passed in the Senate as a combination of the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD) Appropriations Act, 2017 (Division A) and the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2017 (Division B).

In an interesting move, the rule adopted last night provided for a substitute amendment which effectively removes the THUD portion of the bill and substitutes HR 4794 (Military Construction and Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2017), HR 5243 (Zika Response Appropriations Act, 2016) and HR 897 (Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act of 2015) for the remainder of the Senate adopted language.

It looks like the removal of the THUD provisions has more to do with the controversy surrounding the House approach to Zika funding (much less money than either the Senate funding in HR 2577 or even less than requested by the Administration) than it does any of the significant differences between the House and Senate of THUD spending.

The House THUD spending bill has not yet been introduced.