Senate Passes HR 3547

This afternoon the Senate passed HR 3547, the newly named Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2014 by a bipartisan vote of 72 to 26. The House amendment to the bill that was agreed to by the Senate today will provide for funding of the federal government until the start of the 2015 fiscal year on October 1^st.  

The President has until midnight Saturday to sign the bill to avoid another federal funding fiasco like we saw last fall. There have been no indications that he has even considered vetoing this bill.

Section 536 of the bill will extend the current CFATS program through October 4^th.

House Passes HR 3547

This afternoon the House passed HR 3547, the newly named Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2014 by a strongly bipartisan vote of 359 – 67. The large bulk of the Nay votes came from Republicans. In fact, the bill would not have passed if it were not for the Democrats voting in favor of the bill; their Yea votes outnumbered those of the Republicans voting for the bill.

The bill, which will provide funding for the remainder of the fiscal year now goes to the Senate where it will most likely pass on a vote Friday afternoon or Saturday.

In an earlier vote today the Senate extended the current continuing resolution funding until Saturday midnight.

NOTE: Corrected references to bill number to HR 3547 1-19-14 10:00 am CST

Senate Passes HJ Res 106

As expected earlier this afternoon the Senate passed HJ Res 106, a three-day continuing resolution, by a vote of 86 – 14; a strongly bipartisan vote. This bill will continue the current funding of the Federal government through Saturday. Without the bill the government would have had to enter another federal funding fiasco this evening at midnight.

The House is currently voting on the resolution (H Res 458) that would provide for its consideration this afternoon of HR 3547. The amendment to that bill that will be considered this afternoon will provide for the funding of the Federal government for the remainder of the fiscal year. It would also continue the authorization of the CFATS program through October 4^th, 2014.

The Senate would be expected to vote on the new version of HR 3547 on Friday or Saturday.

Rules Committee Adopts Closed Rule for HR 3547

Yesterday afternoon the House Rules Committee adopted a closed rule for the consideration of HR 3547, the bill that will become the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2014. There will be one hour of debate and a single up or down vote on the bill. Since the deal for this bill was worked out by the respective appropriations committees it is likely that the bill will receive enough bipartisan support to pass.

Rules Committee Hearing Set for FY 2014 Spending Bill

Today the House Rules Committee announced a hearing tomorrow afternoon to develop the rule for the consideration of the Senate amendment to HR 3547 that was the Space Launch Liability Indemnification Extension Act. Instead this bill will be used as the vehicle for the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2014.

A Rules Committee print of the new version of the bill is available. To make it somewhat easier to find items of interest (to readers of this blog any way) the DOD portion is found on pages 200 – 364 and the DHS portion on pages 601 – 711. Selected individual agency coverage starts on the pages indicated below:

• TSA, 613; Surface, 615;

• Coast Guard, 619;

• NPPD, 632;

• FEMA, 634; and

• General Provisions, 656

Of specific interest to readers of this blog, the bill contains the obligatory language extending the §550 authorization of the CFATS program through October 4^th, 2014 at §536.

Initial indications are that the deal between the chairs of the two Appropriations Committees that put together this bill will hold for expedited action this week. With the Rules Committee hearing set for Tuesday, the House should vote on Wednesday or Thursday and the Senate on Thursday or Friday. If the House does not vote by Wednesday on this bill, look for another short term continuing resolution to allow another try at making a grand deal.