HR 2740 Passes in House – First FY 2020 Minibus

On Wednesday the House passed HR 2740, the first FY 2020 minibus spending bill by a vote of 226 to 203; a near party-line vote with seven Democrats voting Nay. A large number of amendments were adopted in two en bloc votes, including the Walberg amendment that I discussed earlier. That amendment would add $7 million to the Cybersecurity, Energy Security, And Emergency Response (CESER) spending account in the Department of Energy.

When (if?) the Senate takes up HR 2740, it will substitute language from the appropriate Senate spending bills for the language in the House bill. To move the bill to the President a conference committee would have to work out compromise language that would subsequently be passed by both the House and Senate. The ‘(if?)’ is because the Republicans in the Senate are still trying to work out a budget deal with the House and President that would set the spending caps for FY 2020. The Senate might not take up spending bills until that deal is reached.