Overview

• A $120 billion disagreement over federal spending threatens to cause a government shutdown later this year.
• Lawmakers understand that to avert a shutdown starting Oct. 1, it will take another bipartisan compromise such as that seen in the debt ceiling fight.
• Senate Republicans are seeking to bypass the defense spending caps set by the debt limit deal negotiated by President Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
• Republican defense hawks on the Senate Appropriations Committee are frustrated with the allocations for the Defense Department set by Senate Democrats and House Republicans.
• House Republicans have proposed cutting an additional $119 billion from discretionary spending by setting spending targets for the annual spending bills that cumulatively fall well below the caps that Biden and McCarthy agreed to for those programs.