Domestic programs could see $73B in cuts if Congress fails to pass new funding bills
Without changes to current policy, the shortfall would amount to nine percent in cuts to the programs that have enabled a historic economic recovery from the pandemic.

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For the third time in as many months, Congress faces a set of deadlines to fully fund the government and prevent a shutdown.
And the stakes are serious: The Congressional Budget Office, a US federal agency that provides Congress with economic and budgetary analysis, estimates that failure to pass new funding bills could trigger cuts of up to $10 billion for national defense and $73 billion in domestic programs.
Without changes to current policy, the shortfall would amount to a one-percent cut in military funding at a time of global volatility from adversaries to the US and American allies and nine percent in cuts to the programs that have enabled a historic economic recovery from the pandemic.
The CBO shared its analysis in a letter to the Reps. Jodey Arrington of Texas and Brendan Boyle of Pennslyvania, the top Republican and Democrat on the House Budget Committee.
Boyle slammed Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and House Republicans for failing to produce a workable funding plan. He also called out his colleagues across the aisle for what he described as governing through brinksmanship on the debt limit and government funding since assuming the majority a little over a year ago.
“Their reckless attempts to achieve steep budget cuts failed time and time again last year, and they will fail again this year,” Boyle said in a statement. “Passing full-year government funding bills is the most basic task of Congress. We cannot allow indiscriminate and harmful cuts to happen because House Republicans are incapable of doing their jobs.”
President Biden signed a stop-gap funding bill known as a continuing resolution—or CR, for short—to keep the government open after Congress failed to fully fund the government in November. Unlike normal CRs, this one consisted of two separate expiration dates for two separate sets of appropriations bills. Four bills expire on Jan. 19, the other eight on Feb. 2.
Congress passed and the president signed into law the Fiscal Responsibility Act, a bill last May to avoid this scenario. It set the topline at $1.59 trillion for the 2024 fiscal year. With side agreements making up the difference, funding was to remain virtually flat from last year to this year. But before the ink was dry, House Republicans reneged on the agreement.
As it stands, House and Senate leaders have yet to agree on a topline (the cap on the amount of money appropriators are authorized to spend to fund the government). None of the funding bills can be written without it. Punchbowl News reports that one idea under consideration is to keep current funding levels through Sept. 30—the end of the fiscal year—without automatic spending cuts; essentially, a full-year CR passed a new appropriation.
Spokespeople for the White House Office of Management and Budget did not respond to a request for comment.
Biden’s first 2024 ad reprises his role as democracy-defender-in-chief
The 60-second spot, which launches this Saturday, frames the president as the leader to defend the hard-won freedoms that are at risk under a potential second Trump term.

The Biden campaign announced it will launch its first ad of 2024 on Saturday, the third anniversary of the Jan. 6th attack on the US Capitol.
The 60-second spot, titled “Cause” frames former President Donald Trump and MAGA extremism as the existential threat to our democracy and aims to showcase President Joe Biden as the leader to defend the hard-won freedoms that are at risk under a second Trump term.
“There’s an extremist movement that does not share the basic beliefs of our democracy,” Biden said in the ad. “All of us are being asked right now: What will we do to maintain our democracy? History’s watching. The world’s watching. Most important, our children and grandchildren will hold us responsible.”
It includes a brief mention of voting rights that’s likely intended to remind voters that Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and the Democratic Party believe in protecting and expanding access to the ballot box. But the nod could also resurface the frustration among the base at the lack of federal action on the issue, despite the considerable political capital the president and vice president invested at the outset of their terms.
Team Biden said the ad, which cost $500,000, will run for a week on national TV and local evening news in seven battleground states: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. The campaign will also push 15- and six-second ads on digital platforms, including YouTube, Instagram and Connected TV.
The ad comes as the president prepares to deliver a major campaign speech on Friday in Pennsylvania near Valley Forge, the winter encampment of the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. The speech is the kickoff to a flurry of events on Biden and Harris’s schedule as their reelection bid kicks into high gear.
Watch the full ad below:
Happenings: January 4, 2024
Another quiet day in the nation’s capital.
👋🏾 Hi, hey, hello! It’s Thursday, January 4, 2024. Here’s what’s happening in Congress and across national politics today:
The House and Senate are out.
President Joe Biden will receive his daily intelligence briefing at 10 a.m. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby will brief reporters at 1 p.m.
Vice President Kamala Harris will receive private briefings and hold internal meetings with her staff.
All times Eastern
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