Negotiators make progress in fiscal 2022 spending talks

Congressional negotiators are making headway in government spending talks, with top lawmakers confirming on Tuesday that all of the Senate Appropriations subcommittees have received their top-line spending numbers for fiscal 2022.

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, confirmed to The Hill on Tuesday that all 12 of the chamber’s appropriations subcommittees have received allocation figures for their portions of the fiscal 2022 budget.

Sen. Richard Shelby (Ala.), top-ranking Republican on the panel, also confirmed the development on Tuesday afternoon.

The news comes days after Shelby said negotiators struck an agreement on the framework for an omnibus spending package, which he added would be key to helping leaders secure top-line numbers for defense and nondefense discretionary spending. 

The announcement, which Shelby described as a “breakthrough” at the time, follows a months-long stalemate between both sides of the aisle over a range of disagreements, including parity between defense and nondefense spending, as well as legislative riders.

In remarks to reporters on Monday night, Sen. Jon Tester, who chairs the Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee, wouldn’t say what his panel was allocated, but said “it’s better than [he] expected.”

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), who chairs the Senate Appropriations Homeland Security Subcommittee, said appropriators worked through the weekend to hash out allocations.

The progress arrives as negotiators are running up on a Feb. 18 deadline to pass legislation to avert a government shutdown.

The House has already passed a stopgap measure to allow the government to remain funded under the previous fiscal year’s spending levels through March 11, in hopes to buy appropriators more time to tie up negotiations. The Senate is expected to take up the legislation later this week.

If passed, the act would mark the third such time Congress has had to approve a third continuing resolution to prevent a shutdown since spending negotiations began for the current fiscal year, which started in October.

Murphy told reporters he is confident appropriators can get their work done by the March deadline if lawmakers continue to make progress in talks.

“I think we can get it done by March 8 if we can get our allocations locked down. We’re ready to go,” Murphy said late Monday.