Congress Raises Budget Caps and Extends Government Funding Through March 23

Congress passed the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 on February 8, increasing spending caps for defense and non-defense discretionary spending by $300 billion over two years. Non-defense discretionary budget caps will be raised by $63 billion in fiscal year (FY) 2018 and by $68 billion in FY 2019. The deal also includes an $89.3 billion disaster-recovery package (see more below), as well as a six-week continuing resolution (CR) to extend government funding through March 23 to allow lawmakers additional time to complete a FY 2018 appropriations package. Congressional appropriators are now in the process of setting new spending levels for the appropriations subcommittees, which will determine how much additional funding for housing and community development programs will result from the higher budget caps.