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House Appropriators Advance FY22 Defense, Homeland Security Bills; Begins Consideration of Transportation Spending Bill
After advancing all twelve appropriations bills out of the Appropriations Committee this week, the full House will begin to consider the spending bills over the next two weeks.
House Democrats aim to pass a seven-bill appropriations package the last week of July, focusing on some of the most popular bills for Democrats and leaving the fate of defense spending unclear.
House members will vote the week of July 26 on a package that includes the Agriculture-FDA,, Energy and Water, Financial Services, Interior-Environment, Labor-HHS-Education, Military Construction-VA, and Transportation-HUD spending bills, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) told lawmakers in a “dear colleague” letter.
Other appropriations bills may also get votes that week, Hoyer said. But there’s no specific plan for the Commerce-Justice-Science, Defense, Homeland Security, Legislative Branch, and State and Foreign Operations bills.
The decision to wait until the last week of July, rather than taking up a spending package next week, means members will only have one week before the August recess to vote on remaining spending bills, unless they push the start of recess back.
Defense
On Tuesday, the House Appropriations Committee voted 33-23 to advance its fiscal 2022 defense spending bill. The measure advanced to the full House after appropriators tacked on a pair of amendments that would roll back war powers enacted in the wake of the 9/11 attacks and ahead of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Republican appropriators objected to a slew of provisions in the funding bill, but largely opposed the measure because it endorses the flatline Pentagon budget proposed by President Joe Biden. GOP defense hawks have been calling for a beefed up defense budget that boosts spending by 3 to 5 percent and criticized the Biden administration for proposing a military budget that doesn’t keep up with inflation.
The bill would allocate $706 billion for the Pentagon, in line with Biden’s budget proposal. The legislation would eliminate the Pentagon’s separate war account, known as the Overseas Contingency Operations account. The move to eliminate the account, which has been derided as a budget gimmick and used to evade caps on defense spending, was proposed by the Biden administration.
The bill provides $23.4 billion to purchase 8 ships including:
- 2 Virginia-class submarines
- 2 DDG-51 destroyers
- 1 FFG(X) Constellation-class frigate
- 1 TAO Fleet Oiler
- 1 T-AGOS Surtass Ship
- 1 T-ATS(X) Fleet Ocean Tug
Additionally, the bill provides $10.2 billion in ship depot maintenance dollars and funds the expansion of the OP,N pilot program on private ship repair.
A committee summary of the bill is here. The text of the bill, before the adoption of amendments in full Committee, is here. The bill report, before the adoption of amendments in full Committee, is here.
The SCA summary is available HERE
Homeland Security
On Tuesday, July 13, 2021, the House Appropriations Committee voted 33-24 to advance their version of the FY22 Department of Homeland Security Funding bill. Overall, the bill provides $53 billion in funding for the department, including $1.8 billion in the Procurement, Construction and Improvement Accounts for the U.S. Coast Guard. SCA’s summary of the bill is below.
The text of the bill, before the adoption of amendments in full Committee, is here. The bill report, before the adoption of amendments in full Committee, is here.
Although House Democrats are expected to consider many of their fiscal 2022 spending bills on the floor this month, the Homeland Security measure is unlikely to get a vote because of the politics around immigration and other border issues.
View the SCA Summary: SCA Summary_FY22 HAC DHS Mark
Transportation
On Friday morning, the House Appropriations Committee will consider the FY22 spending bill to fund the Department of Transportation, Housing and related agencies. According to a committee report of the bill, before amendments, the bill would invest inc critical infrastructure including airports, highways, transit, passenger rail, and port systems.
The bill provides $315 million for the fifth National Security Multi-Mission Vessel (NSMV), $20 million for the Small Shipyard Assistance Grant program and $300,000 for port infrastructure development.
The SCA summary can be viewed HERE.
The bill report is here. The text of the draft bill is here. A committee summary of the bill is here.
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