House Republicans Pass Legislative Branch Funding Bill that Fails to Move the Institution Forward

WASHINGTON — Today House Appropriations Committee Republicans passed the 2024 Legislative Branch funding bill that fails to move the institution of the House of Representatives forward. House Democrats were united in their opposition, voting unanimously against the bill.

For 2024, the bill appropriates a total of $5.3 billion, a decrease of $252 million, or 4.5 percent, below 2023. In keeping with longstanding practice whereby each chamber of Congress determines its own housekeeping requirements and the other concurs without intervention, the bill does not include funds for the Senate or for Senate office buildings.

Instead of increasing our ability to serve our constituents and recruit and retain talented staff and United States Capitol Police Officers, this bill merely treads water or cuts. The legislation:

• Does not include language permitting funds in the Act to be used to employ individuals with an employment authorization document under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Program.
• Does nothing to facilitate House Resolution 1096, which extends the collective bargaining rights prescribed in the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 to employees of the House of Representatives and restores these rights to Congressional staffers.
• Eliminates dedicated funding for the Office of Diversity and Inclusion.

“Our mission is to serve and empower our constituents, and the Republicans’ Legislative Branch funding bill cuts funding for crucial programs that many of our constituents rely on,” Legislative Branch Appropriations Subcommittee Ranking Member Adriano Espaillat (D-NY-13) said. “Funding for the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, DACA personnel, the United States Capitol Police, and much more will be significantly cut or excluded entirely under this new bill. The Republicans’ playbook is clear, and it is critical we stop these hateful internal measures in their tracks as they attempt to harm homeowners, cut child care, eliminate job training programs, and kick hundreds of local law enforcement officers on the street.”

Congressman Adriano Espaillat’s full remarks as prepared for delivery are here.

“As an institution, we should be increasing our ability to serve our constituents and recruit and retain talented staff and United States Capitol Police Officers, not merely treading water or cutting. We made progress last Congress, but this bill takes us back,” Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro (D-CT-03) said. “The House Republican playbook is clear. They have chosen to renege on the agreement made by Speaker McCarthy and President Biden so they can implement dangerous cuts that will lead to hundreds of thousands of families losing their homes and the child care that helps them keep their jobs, eliminate job training programs that boost our economy, and kick teachers out of classrooms and local cops off the street. Beyond the fact that Republicans are leading us on a path toward shutting down the government, this bill falls short of ensuring we can sustain a strong and well-functioning Legislative Branch that is essential to our democracy. Today, House Republicans passed more messaging bills that do not bring us closer to a final bipartisan agreement needed to pass 2024 spending.”

Congresswoman DeLauro’s full remarks are here.

Key provisions of the bill as passed by the full committee:

House of Representatives – The bill provides a total of $1.851 billion in discretionary appropriations for the House of Representatives including:

• Flat funding or equal to 2023 levels is provided for the following:
  • $810 million for the Members Representational Allowance (MRA).
  • $36.6 million for the offices of the Majority and Minority Leadership.
  • $24.3 million in funding for paid interns for Member, Leadership, and Committee offices.
  • $211.9 million for the operations of House committees.
  • $10 million for the House Modernization Initiatives Account.
• The elimination of the Office of Diversity and Inclusion. This bill zeroes out funding for the office.
• The removal of a longstanding provision to eliminate or reduce plastic waste across the Legislative Branch, further contributing to the impacts of climate change. 

Other Agencies

The bill also includes funding for the following Agencies:

• $780.9 million for the Capitol Police, an increase of $46.3 million above the 2023 level. This funding will allow for hiring up to 2,204 sworn officers as requested by the department and provides $15 million for retention bonuses.
• $64.6 million for the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), an increase of $1.4 million above the 2023 level.
• $843.7 million, an increase of $15.2 million above the 2023 level, for the Library of Congress, including the Copyright Office, Congressional Research Service, and National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled.
• $806 million for the Government Accountability Office (GAO), an increase of $15.7 million above the 2023 level.

The bill provides flat funding or decreases for the following Agencies:

• $8 million for the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights, equal to the 2023 level.
• $129.9 million for the Government Publishing Office, equal to the 2023 level.
• $798.1 million for the Architect of the Capitol, a decrease of $332.3 million below the 2023 level.

Important Policy Changes:

• Office of Congressional Workplace Rights – This bill does nothing to facilitate House Resolution 1096, which extends collective bargaining rights prescribed in the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 to employees of the House of Representatives and restores these rights to Congressional staffers.
• Office of Diversity and Inclusion – This bill zeroes out funding for the office.
• Amendments Republicans passed during the full committee markup – The bill includes unnecessary Republican messaging provisions, including a funds prohibition across the Legislative Branch for diversity, equity, and inclusion training or implementation. In addition, this bill seeks to create a license to discriminate against LGBTQI+ people by prohibiting funding that would be used in whole or in part to take any discriminatory action against a person who believes that marriage is, or should be recognized as, a union of one man and one woman.

The text of the bill, before the adoption of amendments in full committee, is here. The bill report, before the adoption of amendments in full Committee, is here.

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