Negotiations on a spending ceiling to govern the fiscal 2023 appropriations process have ground to a halt due to differences over defense spending and a Republican push to strip the bills of earmarks, according to top Senate appropriators.
Senate Appropriations Chair Patrick J. Leahy, D-Vt., charged this week that Republicans are pushing for a continuing resolution instead of pursuing a fiscal 2023 spending deal. Republicans want large defense spending increases while flat-funding nondefense agencies, Leahy said.
Top Senate Republican appropriator Richard C. Shelby confirmed that the negotiations had stalled, even as their House counterparts move forward with markups starting this week under a spending structure that largely adheres to President Joe Biden’s budget request.
