Two-Year Budget Deal Allows HUD Appropriations Process to Advance

President Trump recently signed a budget deal that increases federal spending and lifts the nation’s borrowing limit. The new law suspends the debt ceiling through July 2021, removing the threat of a default during the 2020 elections, and raises domestic and military spending by more than $320 billion compared to existing law over the next two fiscal years.

Non-defense discretionary programs will receive $27 billion more in funding for fiscal year (FY) 2020 than was allocated in FY19, and $32 billion more in FY21 than the current spending level. The deal passed the House of Representatives by a margin of 284-149 and the Senate by a vote of 67-28.

While the deal averts a debt default, it doesn’t remove the possibility of a government shutdown at the conclusion of the fiscal year ending Sept. 30. Instead, it sets spending levels for House and Senate appropriators. Congress still must pass roughly a dozen spending bills, or a package containing the various bills, which Trump also must sign to keep the government open.