FY24 Appropriations Federal Landscape

Congress has averted yet another government shutdown on Thursday, January 18th with just minutes to spare. Continuing House Speaker Mike Johnson’s trial for a laddered continuing resolution (CR), Congress agreed to move their deadlines to March 1st and March 8th with agency funding deadlines now being:

Federal agencies funded until March 1, 2024 (bold are relevant to many youth programs):

• Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (containing funding priorities for the Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program)
• Agriculture
• Energy and Water
• Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies

Federal agencies funded until March 8, 2024:

• Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies (containing funding priorities for the Youth Mentoring Grant program)
• Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (containing funding priorities for the Runaway and Homeless Youth Programs)
• Defense
• Financial Services and General Government
• Homeland Security
• Interior
• Legislative Branch
• State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs

In addition to averting a shutdown, Congress has come to a conclusion on their overall spending allocations for fiscal year 2024. Overall spending will come to $1.657 Trillion – with $773 Billion allocated for non-defense spending (containing valuable youth dollars for the programs we care about). Overall, the deal is almost exactly the same as the previous deal they agreed upon in April of 2023 in the Fiscal Responsibility Act. In short, it’s taken Congress an extra six months to get back to where they started.

In the coming months, Congress will be under increasing pressure to pass all 12 annual funding bills amid negotiations on a separate spending package that would provide wartime dollars to Ukraine and Israel and strengthen security at the U.S.-Mexico border. With everything on the bracket, there is a possibility for another short-term government shutdown or temporary funding bill this upcoming March, however, appropriators are facing their final deadline quickly. As agreed upon in the Fiscal Responsibility Act, if appropriations are not passed by April 30, 2024, there will be an across-the-board 1% cut to defense spending and a 5% cut to non-defense spending. This is a highly unliked solution for the majority of Congress, so efforts are high to try and reach a deal by the March deadlines.

Congress has a huge plate of issues in the next two months and with far-right members of the House Freedom Caucus pushing for a harder-line, anti-compromise approach, there will be a myriad of noise in the coming months from news agencies, however, we believe Congress will reach a solution and pass FY24 appropriations through an increased drive for compromise and overwhelming agreement to avoid the 1% cut to defense spending and 5% cut to non-defense spending. 

To learn more, please look to the following resources:

• AP: Congress votes to avert a shutdown and keep the government funded into early March
• Washington Post: House, Senate pass short-term bill averting government shutdown until March