Congress has made little progress in reaching a deal to extend the national debt limit and avoid default on the federal debt. Financial experts have suggested that the debt limit could be reached as early as June 1, leaving little time for negotiations. Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) recently noted that a deal would need to be reached by next week in order to move it through the legislative process. However, despite a meeting on Tuesday at the White House between President Biden and bipartisan congressional leadership, no solution appears imminent.
As part of his negotiations to become Speaker of the House, Speaker McCarthy agreed to a plan that would cap non-defense discretionary spending at FY 2022 levels – an 8% cut for overall FY 2024 spending – and cap future spending at 1% annually until FY 2033. This plan, known as the Limit, Save, Grow Act of 2023 (H.R. 2811) passed the House on a 217-215 party-line vote on April 26.
According to the Department of Education, ED programs would be subject to a 22% reduction in funding if the spending cap from the Limit, Save, Grow Act is enacted, because Republican leaders have said that defense, border security and veterans’ funding would not face any cuts. This would leave programs like Perkins at risk of significant cuts that would harm CTE and workforce development programs, and greatly impact their ability to serve learners in high-quality CTE programs nationwide.
Democratic leadership have said that the Limit, Save, Grow Act as it stands is a non-starter and have requested a clean increase of the debt ceiling by June 1 that is not tied to discussions about spending cuts. President Biden remarked yesterday that he planned to continue discussions with congressional leadership on Friday.
Both the House Appropriations Committee and the Senate Appropriations Committee are delayed in marking up the FY 2024 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies appropriations bill as a result of the debt limit impasse. Leaders are waiting to determine if an agreement on federal spending caps is included in any deal related to the debt limit before moving forward.
ACTE is closely monitoring developments in the debt ceiling negotiations, and we will keep you updated with any advocacy requests and continue to advocate for the highest possible levels of education spending. Please let us know if you have any questions!
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