U.S. Senator Katie Britt Votes in Support of Regular Order, Accountability in Appropriations Process
Votes to restore regular order, oppose Christmas omnibus prelude
WASHINGTON, D.C., September 25, 2024 – U.S. Senator Katie Britt (R-Ala.) today released the following statement after opposing a flawed Continuing Resolution that sets Congress up to pass a massive omnibus days before Christmas.
“Democrats have once again abdicated their fundamental responsibility as members of the U.S. Senate by refusing to put a single Fiscal Year 2025 appropriations bill on the floor before September 30. Despite the fact the Senate Appropriations Committee advanced 11 of 12 funding bills with bipartisan support by August 1, Senator Schumer has chosen to prioritize partisan nominees and election year show votes,” said Senator Britt.
“This Senate Democrat Majority has also failed to outline any kind of plan to put Fiscal Year 2025 appropriations bills on the floor before the end of December, and the Senate is only scheduled to be in session a total of five more weeks before the New Year,” continued Senator Britt. “It is clear that their intention is to try forcing a massive omnibus on the American people right before Christmas. I will not support that plan. It’s past time to restore regular order to appropriations and achieve accountability when it comes to government spending. My vote today makes crystal clear that I am serious about fixing this broken process.”
Last week, Senator Britt joined a group of Senate Republicans, led by Appropriations Vice Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine), in calling for consideration of theFiscal Year 2025 (FY25) Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act and the FY25 Defense Appropriations Act.
Both pieces of legislation were advanced unanimously out of the Appropriations Committee by August 1 but, prior to consideration of the continuing resolution, still had not been brought to the Senate floor.
Senator Britt is also a cosponsor of Senator James Lankford’s (R-Okla.) Prevent Government Shutdowns Act of 2023. This legislation that would permanently end the practice of shutting down the federal government and disrupting critical services if Congress fails to enact spending bills by the start of the next fiscal year.
Specifically, under the bill’s provisions, if Congress does not enact all 12 appropriations on time, an automatic 14-day Continuing Resolution (CR) would be triggered and keep funding at the previous fiscal year’s levels. If there is no resolution at the end of two weeks, automatic 14-day CRs would go into effect on a rolling basis until either all appropriations bills are enacted or a long-term CR is enacted.
In addition, while the federal government is operating under the automatic CRs, members of Congress could not use any official funds for travel, must hold daily sessions on the floor (including weekends), and could not consider any other measures other than appropriations bills.
###
