What's in the Republican Spending Bill?
...and let's hope it's irrelevant
While Republicans are keeping mum as to exactly the wording of their 99-page stopgap funding bill, we do know that it includes a few important details:
$13 billion in non-defense cuts across federal departments
$6 billion in increased spending for the military
$485 million in ICE spending to boost deportations
$500 million added to the Women Infant Child Nutrition Assistance Program, for which you may or may not qualify in the coming months
“In short, should the courts clear his ability to halt any funding that does not align with the administration’s values, SNAP and WIC would effectively continue only at the whim of the president. With all this understood, SNAP and WIC participants in New York and across the country can expect to use their benefits as usual. At the same time, the dangerous precedent for interference in these vital programs should not be understated.” - NYCfoodpolicy.org
$753 million in Air Traffic Control spending, a program that Elon has been eyeing for SpaceX for quite some time
“Elon Musk says upgrade of FAA’s air traffic control system is failing and SpaceX needs to take over Verizon’s contract.”
$1.4 billion in cuts to the Army Corps of Engineers, who mitigate impacts from hurricanes and floods
$185 million in cuts from Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation programs
$30 million in cuts to broadband (internet) connection in rural areas
$800 million in cuts from Veterans Affairs facility construction
$40 million in cuts to election security
$30 million in cuts to farmers
Removal of unnamed “projects” and “initiatives”
An increase in pay for junior members of the military
No inclusion of mandatory spending for Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid
No inclusion of interest payments on the more than $36 trillion in debt
No inclusion of DOGE and cuts to the federal workforce
No funding for FEMA disaster relief
Limits spending in the District of Columbia, slashing $1.1 billion from education, public safety, and economic growth
This bill aims to deport more immigrants and cut more funding and access from people in rural communities, and while it disguises itself as a means to give more to lower-income communities under the guise of the WIC and SNAP programs, will eventually fall in line with stricter requirements to qualify for these programs, such as the elderly going back to work full-time, and bottom-of-the-barrel income qualifications. These cuts and payments aim to benefit, yet again, the top 1% of earners in the U.S., billionaires and corporate CEOs, and not the working class, not women, not children, not people of color, not kids in school, not people under threat of natural disaster, not disabled people, and certainly not our country as a whole as it stands on the global stage.
Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer wants to pass this bill, which needs 8 votes from Democrats and Independents in order to reach a two-thirds majority. He sees a shutdown as a bigger threat to the federal government than 6 months of devastating cuts and broken promises. Currently the federal workforce has been gutted—though judges are working to reverse the order—and is essentially shut down already. We need Schumer to put on his big-boy pants and stand up for democracy and the middle class, and not the things which affect only the people who have already entered retirement.
I really, really hope this article is irrelevant in 24 hours, but in order to make that happen we’ve got to act. Call your Senators, but don’t forget to contact Chuck Schumer to VOTE NO on the Republican Spending Bill.
Here’s how:
Remember, it’s we the people. Don’t give them another 6 months to walk back history.
Ellie is an author, editor, and owner of Red Pencil Transcripts, and works with filmmakers, podcasts, and journalists all over the world. She lives with her family just outside of New York City, and is represented by Vicki Marsdon at High Spot Literary.
This bill is atrocious shame on the democrats
Sent an email calling out his cowardice