MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Congress has one main job before lawmakers try to speed out of town for the holidays - avoid a government shutdown deadline on Friday. It looks like they may just make it. Negotiators released a 1,500-page stopgap spending bill to do that and more. It also includes the final spending priorities under a divided government before Republicans take full control next year. NPR congressional correspondent Claudia Grisales is with us now to tell us more about this. Good morning, Claudia.
CLAUDIA GRISALES, BYLINE: Good morning, Michel.
MARTIN: So lawmakers, not to mention people who work for the government and depend on its services, have been anxiously awaiting for the spending deal. Why did it take so long?
GRISALES: Right. There was a lot of intense pressure surrounding these negotiations to get to this moment because, as we touched on, this is the last funding plan before President-elect Donald Trump takes office and Republicans take control of both chambers. So Democrats won't have this kind of negotiating power next year, and Republicans want to get in as much as possible for the new administration. But this plan does run out March 14 of 2025, so we'll likely be right back here but this time under GOP control.
MARTIN: OK. So until then, what does the stopgap plan do?
GRISALES: There's a lot in here, as you would expect for a bill clocking in exactly at 1,547 pages. So aside from keeping the government's lights on until mid-March, it also directs about $100 billion in federal aid for natural disaster recovery, including aid to communities devastated by Hurricanes Helene and Milton. And earlier this fall, when that occurred, there was a lot of concern there was just not enough money to address these issues. And there's also older catastrophic sites that need additional aid, such as Hawaii for the 2023 Maui fires.
It also gives a one-year extension to the farm bill. This is a five-year plan that sets agriculture and food policies. And more locally, it includes funding to rebuild the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore. And in a big win for D.C., it allows the district to finally redevelop the vacant RFK Stadium, a 174-acre site that has sat vacant for years.
MARTIN: So what is the outlook for Congress to approve this plan?
GRISALES: So congressional leaders are confident this will pass with bipartisan votes in both chambers, but there is a lot of loud complaining already from conservative Republicans. For example, the House Freedom Caucus said they need at least three days to go through the bill. They should likely get that. That's what House Speaker Mike Johnson promised. But they also want to guarantee that they'll get a vote for a significant cut in nondefense spending under Trump's administration. Other conservative Republicans, however, in both chambers called it garbage, quote, "reckless spending." So there's enough jam-packed in this bill that's causing its share of controversy for some along the way. But many are still betting this bipartisan plan will still survive its critics.
MARTIN: And if it does pass, what does this mean for the incoming Trump administration?
GRISALES: Well, as if there was not enough on tap for the Trump administration Republicans, this means they have a lot of work to do in the first hundred days. A lot of Republicans wanted to see a longer permanent spending bill because of these fears. But in addition to, now, this budget plan that they need to address - with tight margins - they'll have lofty goals to meet along the way.
MARTIN: That is NPR's Claudia Grisales. Claudia, thank you.
GRISALES: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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