![]() ![]() In both 20, however, Democrats insisted that any increase to the defense caps be accompanied by increases in the non-defense limits. On the non-defense side, meanwhile, Republican appropriators in the House have been writing bills in accordance with a total spending level of $511 billion, which is roughly $5 billion less than what would be allowed under the existing caps. ![]() Unless those limits are addressed, the base defense budget is limited to $549 billion for next year. In addition, in order to spend the amount on the base defense budget that Republicans are advocating- at least $584 billion-they will need to get some Senate Democrats to agree to a second deal, relaxing the caps on discretionary spending put in place by the Budget Control Act of 2011. First, the levels of spending embraced by the House Republicans so far would face a difficult road in the Senate, where the filibuster means that at least eight Democrats will need to support any spending package, omnibus or otherwise, for it to ultimately clear the chamber. In the specific context of this year’s appropriations process, however, it’s not clear how an early omnibus solves Republicans’ problems. In addition, when many issues are on the table, it can be easier to make trades to get certain members on board. Rather than needing to amass support repeatedly on individual measures, rolling separate bills together means leaders only need to build a winning coalition once. From a coalition-building perspective, there are certainly benefits to going the omnibus route. On the individual spending bills, House Republicans are considering “ going ugly early” and bringing a single measure that encompasses all 12 individual spending bills to the floor before the August recess. The Senate may be finally approaching the end of its on-going health care drama, but on the other side of the Capitol, work on the budget resolution and appropriations bills is shifting into a higher gear as the August recess approaches-but it may not be smooth sailing ahead.
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