Speaker Johnson upbeat about final spending package, sees scores of GOP wins in the huge bill

House Speaker Mike Johnson was optimistic that Congress would unveil the final spending package for fiscal 2024 later on Wednesday and finish the long-delayed government funding process by the Friday deadline.

However, lawmakers close to the process said the huge spending package likely wouldn’t be ready until Thursday or, at best, late Wednesday.

Congress has been in a holding pattern for the last six months with government spending, coming within hours of a partial government shutdown four times and relying on short-term patches to keep the lights on.

Now, lawmakers are on the verge of passing the final funding package for the fiscal year that began Oct. 1. The package includes about two-thirds of government funding and is expected to top $1 trillion.

While most of the details of the package remained under wraps, Mr. Johnson outlined a series of GOP policy wins to members earlier in a closed-door meeting with House Republicans.

Some of those policy wins include:

• A $27 billion bump to Defense funding;

• Troop pay increase;

• Various cuts to diversity, equity and inclusion programs;

• Reductions for Defense Department climate programs and foreign aid programs;

• No funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency where a dozen employees allegedly aided or participated in Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attack on Israel.

The legislation was expected to be released over the weekend but was delayed by White House disagreements on funding levels for the Department of Homeland Security. A deal was struck Monday evening.

“That last piece, the Homeland piece, was the most difficult to negotiate because the two parties have a wide chasm between them, as you know,” Mr. Johnson said. “But I think the final product is something that we were able to achieve a lot of key provisions in and wins and move in the direction that we want, even with our tiny historically small majority.”

Some of those policy wins for the DHS component include increasing Immigration and Customs Enforcement beds from 34,000 to 42,000, funding 22,000 border patrol agents, and cutting non-governmental organization funding by 20%. 

Congress is not out of the woods yet. A midnight Friday deadline is looming while appropriators put the finishing touches on the massive spending package. Republicans are calling for at least 72 hours to review legislation, a rule in the House often ignored by both Republican and Democratic leaders. 

Mr. Johnson said that he has not committed to waiving that rule, but acknowledged that Congress faces a time crunch and members who have travel plans for the upcoming two-week Easter recess. 

“We’re talking about how to expedite it as quickly as possible but also allow all the members to have an adequate time to review the legislation,” Mr. Johnson said. “We think that text can be out here very soon, and they can begin that process.”