The U.S. Congress returned this week for a three-week sprint to the end of the legislative year. With so much on its plate, it is quite possible that Congress will be working up to and around both Christmas and New Year’s Eve. Here is what Congress has been contending with and what it will face in the next few weeks.
Shutdown averted. With less than 36 hours left before funding to keep the federal government open expired, Congress approved R. 6119, the “Further Extending Government Funding Act,” to keep the government running through February 18, 2022. President Joe Biden signed the short-term funding legislation into law today, December 3, 2021. This means that at the start of 2022 the federal government will continue to operate under spending limits determined during the Trump administration.
Military spending. Spending authorization for the U.S. Armed Forces will expire at the end of the calendar year, if Congress does not act. The annual National Defense Authorization Act, which establishes spending levels for defense programs, has continuously passed every year since it was introduced in 1961. This defense budget bill will be a congressional priority and will take up legislative time.
Debt limit. Remember the October 2021 political battle over the federal government’s borrowing limit? Well, because Congress merely kicked the can down the road, we are quickly approaching the deadline for addressing the borrowing limit. Treasury...
Health care entities may be able to pay less than half the steep fines ordinarily associated with False Claims Act (FCA) violations by voluntarily reporting issues under a new pilot program launche...