First 2019 appropriations bill advances

House appropriators kicked off the 2019 season on Thursday, approving a military construction and veterans spending bill in a subcommittee markup and sending it on to the full Appropriations Committee.

“The members of our subcommittee continue to demonstrate a strong, bipartisan commitment to the men and women in our armed services. We have worked to produce a bill that delivers on our promise to provide for the needs of those who have served our country and for those currently serving,” said subpanel Chairman Charlie Dent (R-Pa.), who is retiring at the end of this Congress.

{mosads}The $96.9 billion legislation, a $4.2 billion increase over the 2018 levels approved in last month’s omnibus spending bill, is the first of 12 spending bills to begin advancing through the labyrinthine appropriations process.

The fiscal 2019 budget and appropriations process has already departed from the legally set benchmarks, as has become the norm on Capitol Hill in recent years.

Neither the House nor the Senate approved budget resolutions, which are meant to set out funding levels across the government, by the April 15 deadline. Instead, appropriators are using new spending caps outlined in the bipartisan budget agreement made earlier in the year to guide their spending. 

No breakdowns outlining how the overall spending levels will be divvied up among various agencies have been made public. Few lawmakers believe the process will be completed by the Oct. 1 deadline, and instead expect a continuing resolution to extend current funding levels through the November midterm elections.