They can’t keep doing this. The country needs a proper federal budget. For four months, the sharply divided Congress has been unable to agree on the traditional two-year budget agreement. What have they done instead? Kept the government running with short-term “stop-gap” spending bills.

The last one expired Thursday at midnight. The House passed another one on Tuesday. The Senate hasn’t. The house agreement would keep spending at the same level through March 23. The one exception is the Pentagon. It will receive a full-year budget of $659 billion, in order to protect the military.

Two-Year Budget Agreement

If Congress agrees on a stop-gap funding, the nation still needs a budget.The two-year budget bill doesn’t provide funding, it creates top-line spending levels. “Top-line level” is the maximum amount Congress may spend. If Congress finally passes a budget, it will still need to pass appropriations bills to fund it.

On Wednesday, Republican Senator Mitch McConnell and his Democratic counterpart Senator Chuck Schumer agreed on a two-year budget that costs $400 billion. McConnell convinced the Democrats will agree to it in exchange for the Republicans supporting DACA. He will allow time for debate on the floor.

While many Republicans are agreeable to DACA, some Democrats want a broader version that includes the provisions of the DREAM Act. That Act gives young illegal immigrants’ relatives temporary status as well. It provides a path to citizenship for them and their relatives.

During the budget debate, Rep. Nancy Pelosi engaged in an historic 8-hour marathon speech on the House floor opposing the bill. She refused to support the budget bill unless it contained DREAM Act provisions. However, many Democrats were prepared to vote for the bill even without DACA.

Excessive Spending

Conservative Republicans in the House Freedom Caucus object to the amount of spending in the bill. It adds more debt to the nation’s $20 trillion-plus debt. The bill retreats on the Budget Control Act. It creates higher budget deficits, possibly over $1 trillion according to FreedomWorks. The budget caps were set in 2011 but Congress has never adhered to them. The bill suspends the debt limit for another year.

It includes $89 billion in disaster aid for hurricane-slammed Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico. That’s in addition to $50 million already given to disaster relief there. There is $8 billion for two more years of funding for community health centers. The Pentagon would get an $80 billion increase for the current budget year, a 14 percent increase over current limits and $26 billion more than Trump requested. The bill allots $6 billion to fight opioid addiction. There is $20 billion for infrastructure.

This spending proposal is disgusting and reckless—the biggest spending increase since 2009. I urge every American to speak out against this fiscal insanity. https://t.co/lbjN69LvOg

— Justin Amash (@justinamash) February 7, 2018

Unlike during the President Obama era, there is a bigger increase in the spending bill for defense spending than non-defense spending. There are cuts to Obamacare and structural reforms to Medicare to save money.

After a brief shutdown after midnight last night prompted by Sen. Rand Paul, Congress finally passed the two-year spending bill. President Trump signed it.

The Budget Agreement today is so important for our great Military. It ends the dangerous sequester and gives Secretary Mattis what he needs to keep America Great. Republicans and Democrats must support our troops and support this Bill!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 7, 2018

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