In the wee hours of March 21, the text of the second appropriations bill—totaling $1.2 trillion—to fund most of the U.S. government was unveiled.
The second tranche of spending legislation covers 70 percent of the federal government. This includes the Defense, Treasury, Homeland Security, Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS), Education, and State departments.
If Congress does not pass the bill by March 23, a partial government shutdown will occur.
Defense Department
The Pentagon would get $825 billion in total.It includes a 5.2 percent increase in basic pay for members of the military—the largest basic pay increase in two decades.
It allocates $92 million more than requested by the Biden administration to improve U.S. Indo-Pacific Command’s deterrence amid the threat from China. There is $108 billion allocated for U.S. security cooperation with Taiwan and $300 million for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which consists of training, equipment, and other means to aid Ukraine.
However, direct funding for Ukraine and Taiwan is not in the spending bill as Congress is stuck trying to pass a supplemental assistance package for Taipei and Kyiv as Republicans have called for stringent border measures in exchange. The GOP blocked a Senate bill that consisted of assistance for Ukraine and the Indo-Pacific, including Taiwan, and some specific border security measures.
The annual $3.3 billion for Israel is in the bill, as has been the case for the past several years.
Treasury Department
The bill allocates $1.8 billion to the Treasury Department, minus the IRS, which would get $12.3 billion.The Treasury Department would get $22.9 million less than in the 2023 fiscal year, although its Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence would get $226.9 million, $10.8 million more than it got in the 2023 fiscal year.
Department of Homeland Security
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) would get $61.8 billion, a $1.1 billion increase over the 2023 fiscal year.This funding would go toward new border security technology, such as “non-intrusive inspection equipment to detect fentanyl,” as stated by the House Appropriations Committee.
Customs and Border Protection would receive $400 million toward combating the influx of fentanyl, a major problem as the deadly drug crosses the southern border via cartels and other sources.
The bill allocates $2.2 billion for processing asylum-seekers and related purposes.
Department of Labor
Labor would get $13.4 billion, a $400 million decrease from the 2023 fiscal year.Department of Health and Human Services
The HHS would receive $116.8 billion, a $3.9 billion decrease from the 2023 fiscal year, although the National Institutes of Health would get $48.6 billion this year, $300 million more than last year.Department of Education
Education would get $79.1 billion, a $500 million decrease from fiscal year 2023. Funding goes toward programs such as early childhood education and Pell Grants—both of which are crucial for middle- to low-income students and their families.Department of State
The State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development would get $11.8 billion, a $5.6 billion decrease from fiscal year 2023.This includes $300 million for Taiwan and conditions assistance to Gaza, which Hamas controls.
It ends funding for the U.N. investigation of Israel amid its latest conflict with Hamas. Overall funding for the United Nations is conditioned.
Both Parties Get Policy Victories
Both Democrats and Republicans got policy victories, although members on both sides are expected to oppose the bill despite the expected overwhelming support it will get in passing both the House and Senate in order to get to President Joe Biden’s desk for his signature and, therefore, avert a partial government shutdown.GOP Policy Wins
No Funding for UNRWA
Amid the Israel–Hamas conflict, no funding was allocated through March 2025 for the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).UNRWA has come under fire for what critics call propagating hatred for the Jewish state in schools.
The United States has sent $121 million since Oct. 1, 2023, to a U.N. relief agency believed to have ties with Hamas, according to the State Department.
The Biden administration had approved an additional amount of more than $300,000 for the organization, which provides assistance to Palestinian refugees and civilians in the Gaza Strip, but it has been suspended, according to State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller.
The numbers, revealed by Mr. Miller on Jan. 30, come as Israel had alleged that there were a dozen members of UNRWA who took part in the Hamas terrorist attack on the Jewish state on Oct. 7, 2023.
DHS Increases and Prohibition
Under the bill, the DHS will have 24 percent more beds in detention centers for illegal immigrants and an additional 22,000 Border Patrol agents, as proposed under a tough border security bill passed by the GOP-controlled House but dead in the Democrat-controlled Senate. The funding also covers 41,500 detention beds, as proposed under that bill.There will also be 12,000 additional special immigrant visas awarded to Afghan allies who helped the United States during the nearly 20-year war in Afghanistan, from which the United States and its allies hastily withdrew in mid-2021 as the Biden administration came under fire for abandoning those allies who served in numerous roles such as interpreters.
Defense Increases and Decreases
The legislation includes $27 billion more than in fiscal year 2023 to the Department of Defense.It prohibits funding for the Wuhan Institute of Virology and EcoHealth Alliance in China, both of which were allegedly behind the creation of the virus that causes COVID-19.
It also does not allow for the closure or transfer of prisoners from Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.
No Change in IRS Funding
The IRS would get the same appropriation as it did last fiscal year.The agency has come under fire from Republicans, who say the tax-collecting agency has been targeting middle-class and working-class Americans. The GOP has decried the more than 87,000 IRS agents added under the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. The appropriations bill would decrease the number of additional agents under the 2022 law—a $10 billion reduction.
The bill prevents the IRS from transferring more funds from its accounts for enforcement.
Democrat Policy Wins
One-Year PEPFAR Extension
The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief program, created under President George W. Bush, has been crucial in addressing the global HIV and AIDS epidemic.Increase in Child-Related Programs
The bill would give a $1 billion boost to the Head Start program, which includes early school education and other services for children from low-income backgrounds.Rejecting GOP-Proposed Climate Change Provisions
The legislation does not include some provisions introduced by the GOP to rein in the Biden administration’s climate change agenda across numerous departments.Mixed Reaction From Democrats and Republicans
The legislation has gotten varying responses from Republican and Democrat lawmakers.“The dysfunction of the appropriations process is disgusting,” Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) said.
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) lamented that the Biden administration’s border policies are left in place.
Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) remarked that the appropriations process is “a crazy way to run the country” as the bill came out just on March 21 and will be voted on shortly thereafter.
He told The Epoch Times that the House should follow its rule of giving members 72 hours to read legislation before voting on it.
Mr. Rubio told The Epoch Times that this is an issue for the House. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has waived the rule for this bill.
These six bills are wrapped into what is called a “minibus”—a small version of an omnibus bill with multiple pieces of legislation in one bill.
“This legislation helps with the cost of living, protects women’s rights, reinforces America’s global leadership, and helps our communities be safe and secure—while ensuring the biggest corporations pay the taxes they owe.”
