Negotiations among congressional leaders over spending limits for fiscal 2024 appropriations are moving at a glacial pace, sources familiar with the talks say, calling into doubt lawmakers’ ability to enact final bills early next year without another stopgap spending measure.
While staff-level meetings between leadership aides have been ongoing, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and his team have not indicated they will easily get on board with the funding levels set in the debt limit negotiations that the other three leaders have backed.
This topline agreement is essential in the next week or two to give appropriators the time they need to hammer out full-year spending bills ahead of the next deadline, Jan. 19, according to veterans of the appropriations process.
