Appropriations, taxes, and a reminder on housing

In this week's newsletter: Appropriations, taxes, and a reminder on housing

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The coming appropriations?battle

Remember Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA)? Though he departed at the end of last year, three months after GOP hardliners engineered his ouster as speaker, you’ll hear his name in the coming weeks as Congress works to craft the 12 appropriations bills for fiscal year 2025. That’s because last May, McCarthy struck a two-year budget deal with President Biden (for 2024 and 2025) that would boost both defense and non-defense discretionary spending by 1% in 2025. The House Appropriations Committee, however, has begun writing bills for 2025 that would fund non-defense discretionary spending at lower levels than the deal calls for. That won’t go over well with the White House and Democrat-controlled Senate, presaging a big battle over the 2025 bills this fall. House Appropriations Chairman Tom Cole (R-OK) wants to send all 12 of his committee’s bills to the House floor by mid-July, and Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) wants the House to pass them before the August recess. But even after Republican Vince Fong won a special election this week for McCarthy’s seat, House Republicans hold only a 218-213 margin, meaning they can’t lose more than two Republicans and win a party-line vote. Republican leaders may find it hard to keep their members unified in an election year, especially because Senate Democrats won’t likely accept the GOP’s further cuts to domestic programs.

Progress on taxes (for now)

Facing a “discharge petition” with the requisite support to force a $5 billion package of tax relief for disaster victims to the House floor, GOP leaders this week chose to bring it up themselves. It passed overwhelmingly. A sign of things to come? Not likely. Mounting a successful discharge is no easy matter for rank-and-file lawmakers, if only because House leaders have plenty of ways to pressure members to back off. The House previously passed disaster tax relief in January as part of a larger $78 billion bipartisan tax bill from House Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO) and Senate Finance Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR). Key Senate Republicans, however, have raised concerns about that bill, the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act. Meanwhile, Wyden is vowing to block Senate action on the $5 billion bill in hopes of forcing a vote on his broader bill. Don’t be surprised if Congress kicks it all into 2025, when lawmakers will debate whether to extend popular provisions of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and 2022 Inflation Reduction Act that will otherwise expire at the end of 2025.

Reminder: June 11 — our housing summit

We hope you’ll join us on June 11 (in person or online) for our 2024 Summit on Housing Supply Solutions, when experts and thought leaders from government, business, philanthropy, and other sectors will discuss how to boost affordable housing preservation and construction, and how to help Americans struggling with high rents and mortgage payments. Speakers will include Henry Cisneros, BPC’s board chair and former secretary, Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD); Pamela Hughes Patenaude, BPC board member and former HUD deputy secretary; House Ways and Means Committee member Mike Kelly (R-PA); House Financial Services Committee member Emanuel Cleaver II (D-MO); Federal Housing Administration Commissioner Julia Gordon; and Daniel Hornung, deputy director of the White House National Economic Council.

?Enjoy this Memorial Day weekend as we remember those in uniform who have given the ultimate sacrifice for America. Congress has adjourned, and we’ll be in touch after lawmakers return