A bipartisan agreement to fund Congress and congressional support agencies for the entirety of the current fiscal year would boost funding for member security and saves the nation’s top federal watchdog from dramatic cuts.
Senate leaders hope the legislative branch funding bill, released Sunday, will be enacted in the coming days as part of a deal to end the government shutdown.
The bipartisan measure would fund the Government Accountability Office at $812 million, a full rejection of the nearly fifty percent cut to the agency sought by House Republicans.
The GAO is the nation’s chief investigator of wrongdoing at federal agencies, but GOP House members and the Trump White House have attempted to undercut its independence and legal conclusions. A court recently determined that the head of the GAO, the U.S. Comptroller General, is the only official who can sue the administration over alleged impoundment, or the illegal withholding of funds appropriated by Congress.
The agency is set to enter a new era in the coming months as Comptroller General Gene Dodaro hits the end of his 15-year term in late December and will be forced to vacate the post.
The legislative branch bill negotiated across both parties and chambers also would include an additional $203.5 million for “enhanced member security initiatives,” a key priority after multiple instances of political violence against elected officials this year.
Lawmakers touted $852.2 million funding for the Capitol Police and the separate $30 million for the Mutual Aid Reimbursement Program that is in the House-passed stopgap.
The deal would provide an additional $750 thousand to each senator’s office account for payments for security enhancements and services for lawmakers’ residences, and $5 million to the Senate sergeant at arms to support coordination of security for senators between state and local law enforcement.
The measure requires the House sergeant at arms to provide a briefing on “the new security programs including implemented policies and expenditures” within 30 days of passage of the measure.
