House Appropriations chairman says committee ready to clear bills once government reopens
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Summary
Chairman Cole told House leaders the Appropriations Committee has 12 bills out of committee and is prepared to finish several more once the federal government reopens, but negotiations have stalled amid unrelated demands tied to Medicaid and health insurance subsidies.
Chairman Cole, who leads the House Appropriations Committee, told the House that the committee has moved 12 bills out of committee ahead of the fiscal-year deadline and is prepared to finish additional measures once the federal government reopens.
"We've had a pretty decent year in the House Appropriations Committee. All 12 bills out of committee before September 30," Chairman Cole said. He added that three bills are in negotiations with Democratic counterparts and that the committee is ready to "close" those once the government is reopened.
Cole said the committee could advance "at least, 3 bills done" and that the president could sign them, protecting those measures from a shutdown until the following Sept. 30. He described the committee's process as having been "moving along pretty well" until disputes unrelated to routine appropriations interrupted negotiations.
"We had unrelated demands obviously related to repealing work the congress had already done on Medicaid and then these new band discussions on subsidies," Cole said, noting that the bill then under consideration did not extend beyond Dec. 31. He said those policy disputes made it difficult to complete appropriations work while the government remained closed.
Cole said he and his Democratic counterparts have successfully negotiated many labor-related measures in the past and described the Democratic negotiators as "very talented." He said a bipartisan majority of senators had already supported moving forward and pointed to Leader Schumer and members of his caucus as the key holdouts to restoring the government.
"We're prepared to do that. Frankly, I think, my democratic college are prepared to do that. Once we resolve this shutdown ... we'll move very quickly and we'll try to move away quickly from a CR status to passing bills individually or in small groups and get folks up and working again," Cole said.
The remarks in the transcript were framed as committee status and a call to restore government operations so negotiations on outstanding appropriations measures can resume. The transcript does not record any formal motions, votes, or specific legislative text taken during this exchange.