TOPLINE FUNDING DEAL REACHED: House and Senate leaders announced Sunday they’ve struck a deal to fund the government at nearly $1.7 trillion for the current fiscal year, a critical first step as lawmakers scramble to reach a broader deal to avert a partial government shutdown set to hit USDA and FDA. The topline number, agreed to by Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), is in accord with the pact reached by then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy and President Joe Biden to raise the debt ceiling. In a major victory for Democrats, the deal pegs non-defense spending at $773 billion, a total that counts tens of billions of dollars agreed to alongside the debt limit package, the so-called “side deal” conservatives tried to kill. Race to the finish: Lawmakers have their work cut out for them when they return this week. House and Senate leaders now must scramble to piece together legislative text to fund the agencies that will run out of cash on Jan. 19, including the bill to fund the USDA and FDA. Falling back on a year-long continuing resolution would trigger across-the-board cuts agreed to in the debt ceiling deal. Senate Appropriations ranking member Susan Collins (R-Maine) summed it up bluntly in a post to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. “Congress now faces the challenge of having only 12 days to negotiate and write language, secure passage by both chambers, and get the first four appropriations bills signed into law,” Collins said. “I hope this agreement will help us avoid a year-long Continuing Resolution, implementation of the [debt ceiling deal’s] CR-penalty, or a government shutdown.” Democratic leadership said it will not agree to any “poison pills” as a part of a final full-year deal. That includes controversial House GOP abortion policy riders, like the one that whipped up a bruising intraparty battle and stalled House Republicans’ Ag-FDA spending bill. Possible trouble ahead: The deal enraged Johnson’s right flank. The House Freedom Caucus panned it as “a total failure” in a post to X. Democratic negotiators and the White House have tried to keep the government funding talks separate from negotiations over a supplemental funding bill progressing in the Senate, where Republicans have demanded a series of immigration policy changes in exchange for aid for Ukraine and Israel. But House Republicans generally see both packages as part of a larger deal. And, as Meredith reported last week, even some House GOP centrists are warming to the idea of forcing a partial shutdown for border concessions. Senior House Republicans are planning to brief groups of House GOP lawmakers on the plans later today, three lawmakers tell Meredith. WIC fallout: The topline levels allow negotiators to avoid the House GOP’s proposed cuts to the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, should they choose. However, there is no specific agreement on WIC in the announced framework, nor is there any mention of Democrats’ (and some Republicans’) wish to fulfill Biden’s request for an additional $1 billion in funding to keep WIC afloat this year. Schumer noted in a statement Sunday the deal protects “nutrition assistance,” among other key Democratic priorities, “from the draconian cuts sought by right-wing extremists.” Senate Democrats have been pressing to “fully fund” WIC, but several senators and aides tell MA it’s unlikely they’ll be able to secure the entire $1 billion in extra funding.
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