Republican Legislative Branch Funding Bill Falls Short, Filled with More of the Same Extreme Partisan Policies

WASHINGTON — House Appropriations Committee Republicans released their 2025 Legislative Branch funding bill, which will be considered in subcommittee tomorrow. While the legislation continues the bipartisan progress on funding levels made over the last few years, it is filled with unnecessary partisan policies that were removed in the final bill this year.

For 2025, the bill includes a total of $5.5 billion, an increase of $189 million or 3.5 percent, above 2024. This total excludes the Senate items. The legislation:

• Creates loopholes for a few Members of Congress who perform medical or dental services to be paid in addition to their congressional salary.
• Creates a license for employees to discriminate against LGBTQI+ people under the guise of religious liberty and prevents the federal government from adequately responding.
• On the heels of House Republicans closing the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, blocks programs and activities that promote diversity, equity, and inclusion training across the Legislative Branch.
• Fails to confront the climate crisis by removing a longstanding provision to eliminate or reduce plastic waste across the Legislative Branch and the requirement for Members to lease low-emission vehicles.
• Bars Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients from employment in the Legislative Branch.

"Republicans have spent the majority of the 118th Congress in chaos fighting amongst themselves rather than putting the needs of the American people first. They could not even agree on how to move forward with installing a plaque honoring police officers who defended the U.S. Capitol on January 6th, which is unconscionable," Legislative Branch Appropriations Subcommittee Ranking Member Adriano Espaillat (D-NY-13) said. "While I appreciate the work that has gone into this bill, I cannot support legislation that undermines diversity, the rights of the LGBTQ+ community, and the future of DACA recipients. I remain committed to working across the aisle to forge a path forward and fulfill the constitutional duty of Congress to fund the government in a manner that prioritizes safety, security, and the American people."

"A strong and well-functioning Legislative Branch is essential to ensuring the House of Representatives can do the work Americans sent us here to do. If we cannot recruit and retain talented staff and United States Police Officers, we will not be able to serve people in the ways that they expect and deserve," Appropriations Committee Chair Rosa DeLauro (D-CT-03) said. "While House Republicans' 2025 Legislative Branch funding proposal adequately funds many of the programs and agencies that will help us continue the progress started under House Democratic leadership last Congress, it blocks common sense environmental policies, allows for discrimination against LGBTQI+ individuals, and prohibits diversity training. The reasonable funding levels are proof that House Republicans are capable of writing bills that House Democrats could support if they could simply abandon partisan riders they know will be removed from the final agreement. I hope my Republican colleagues make these simple, necessary changes so we can pass this bill with strong support from both Democrats and Republicans."

A summary of House Republicans' 2025 Legislative Branch funding bill is here. A fact sheet of the bill is here. The full text of the bill is here. (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 Senate office buildings.) The subcommittee markup will be webcast live and linked from the House Committee on Appropriations website.

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