The Republican-controlled House on Friday approved spending bills that would fund the Departments of Defense, State and Homeland Security, with the votes falling largely along party lines.
The defense bill would provide $833 billion in spending in fiscal year 2025, a 1% increase from 2024 levels. Homeland Security would receive $64.8 billion in funding, while the State Department and foreign operations bill would provide $51.7 billion in spending – a roughly 12% cut from the year before.
The three bills are not expected to become law amid opposition from both the Democratic-controlled Senate and the White House, which has vowed to veto the bills in the unlikely event that they arrive on President Biden’s desk in their current form.
Instead, lawmakers will battle over spending levels and policy details as we get closer to the end of the fiscal year in September – and perhaps after the election in November, when it will be clear who’s in control in Washington next year.
In addition to spending levels, lawmakers will fight over numerous controversial provisions in the bills that reflect Republican priorities. Among other things, the bills would eliminate the salaries of the secretaries of the Homeland Security and State Departments. They also touch upon culture war issues, such as prohibiting drag queen story hours on military bases.
“None of these bills — none of them — will be signed into law the way they are written right now,” said Representative Jim McGovern, a Democrat from Massachusetts, per The New York Times. “We all know that this is not about serious legislating. This is about show business right now, performing for the most extreme right wing of the Republican base, and it is a waste of time.”
Still, the bills get Republican leaders in the House one step closer to achieving their stated goal of passing all 12 annual funding bills before the end of the fiscal year, even if that legislation has little chance of moving forward.
