Congressional leaders reach fiscal agreement to boost agency funding and cut COVID relief funds

 Congressional leaders have reached an agreement on overall spending levels for the current fiscal year that largely abides by spending caps for defense and domestic programs that Congress set as part of a bill to suspend the debt limit until 2025. This agreement speeds up the roughly USD 20 billion in cuts already agreed to for the Internal Revenue Service and rescinds about USD 6 billion in COVID relief funds that had been approved but not yet spent, providing additional money for some agencies, and additional funding decreased for others.

Lawmakers needed an agreement on overall spending levels so that appropriators could write the bills that set line-by-line funding for agencies, with funding set to lapse January 19 for some agencies and February 2 for others. Furthermore, the agreement is separate from the negotiations that are taking place to secure additional funding for Israel and Ukraine while also curbing restrictions on asylum claims at the US border. Leaders Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries voiced their support for the agreement, with Jeffries noting that it will secure the investments for hardworking American families. Finally, they made it clear to speaker Mike Johnson that Democrats will not support including poison pill policy changes in any of the twelve appropriations bills put before the Congress.