Bills
| 3.23.22

$982 Billion ‘Minibus’: FY2020 Funding for Defense, Health & Human Services, Education, Foreign Affairs, and More (H.R. 2740)

Do you support or oppose this bill?

What is H.R. 2740?

(Updated July 28, 2020)

This “minibus” spending bill would provide a total of $982.9 billion in fiscal year 2020 appropriations for Defense, Labor-Health and Human Services-Education, Defense, State-Foreign Operations, and Energy and Water Development. A breakdown of this 667 page bill’s provisions can be found below.

DEFENSE

This section of the bill would provide $690 billion in FY2020 for the Dept. of Defense (DOD). Of the total, the base budget is $622.1 billion (an increase of $15.6 billion) while $68.1 billion is provided for Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) / Global War on Terrorism (GWOT). A detailed breakdown of where that funding would go can be found below.

Military Personnel & Pay: This section would provide $153.9 billion to fund an Active Duty end strength of 1,337,500 servicemembers and a Selected Reserve end strength of 800,800 for FY2020 — which would represent a decrease of 16,900 from the prior year. A military pay raise of 3.1% would be funded by this bill.

Operations & Maintenance: This section would provide $206.7 billion in base budget funding and $49.8 billion in OCO/GWOT funding, including:

  • $22.9 billion to the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force for depot maintenance.

  • $9.7 billion to fund the Special Operations Command’s (SOCOM) operation and maintenance requirements.

  • $1.26 billion for environmental restoration activities, including a study and assessment of former and current domestic military installations known to have PFOS/PFOA contamination.

  • $340.7 million for public school infrastructure and childcare facilities on DOD installations.

  • $15 million to continue analysis of purpose and structure of a Space Force and alternative organizational constructs.

  • $6.5 million for gender advisor programs.

Aviation Programs:

  • $8.7 billion for 90 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters;

  • $2.2 billion for 12 KC-46 tankers;

  • $1.7 billion for 24 F/A-18E/F Super Hornets;

  • $1.4 billion for 73 UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters;

  • $1.2 billion for 14 V-22 Osprey aircraft;

  • $986 million for 8 F-15EX Eagles;

  • $806 billion for 48 remanufactured AH-64 Apache helicopters;

  • $628 million for 27 MQ-9 Reaper drones.

  • $1.5 billion to fund follow-on development of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

  • $3 billion to fund continued development of the Air Force’s B-21 bomber program.

  • $758 million to fund development of the VC-25B presidential aircraft replacement.

Shipbuilding:

  • $21.7 billion for 11 Navy ships, including one Ford class aircraft carrier; three Arleigh Burke class guided missile destroyers; two Virginia class attack submarines; one frigate; two fleet oilers; and two towing, salvage, and rescue ships.

  • $4.3 billion for advance procurement of three Virginia class attack submarines; and $1.6 billion for advance procurement of the first Columbia class ballistic missile submarine.

  • $65 million for one Ship to Shore Connector.

Missile Defense / Space:

  • $1.24 billion for four space launch services; $414 million for one GPS IIIF satellite; and $432 million to develop new U.S. space launch vehicles.

  • $425.9 million for 37 THAAD missile interceptors; and $200 million to support Israeli cooperative missile defense procurement programs (Irone Dome, David’s Sling, and Arrow).

Vehicles / Force Protection:

  • $249 million to upgrade the Stryker vehicle by procuring 86 Stryker weapon systems.

  • $1.75 billion to upgrade 165 Abrams tanks.

  • $480 million for 131 Armord Multi-Purpose Vehicles; and $100 million for Army National Guard HMMWV modernization.

  • $378 million for the development of the Next Generation Combat Vehicle.

  • $418 million for the development of the Long Range Precision Fires precision artillery system.

Miscellaneous:

  • $3.53 billion would be provided to the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA).

  • $241 million for replacement of equipment at storm damaged military bases in Nebraska and North Carolina.

  • This bill would prohibit the use of defense funds for the construction of a border wall.

  • The transfer of F-35 fighters to Turkey would be prohibited.

  • Funding for a low-yield nuclear weapon would be prohibited.

  • DOD transfer reprogramming authority would be limited to $1.5 billion.

EDUCATION, LABOR, HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES

HHS: This section would provide $99.4 billion in discretionary FY2020 funding for HHS, an increase of $8.9 billion from the prior year.

National Institutes of Health (NIH): The NIH would receive $41.1 billion, an increase of $2 billion from the prior year, including:

  • $3.2 billion for HIV/AIDS research.

  • $2.4 billion for Alzheimer’s disease research.

  • $500 million for the All of Us precision medicine research initiative.

  • $411 million for the BRAIN Initiative to map the human brain.

  • $195 million for the cancer moonshot research initiative.

  • $25 million for firearm injury and mortality prevention research.

Other institutes and centers under HHS would see their funding increase relative to the prior year under this bill, which would provide:

  • $27.9 billion for the Administration for Children and Families, an increase of $4.7 billion that would boost Child Care and Development Block Grants by $2.4 billion and Head Start by $1.5 billion.

  • $8.3 billion for Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an increase of $938 million.

  • $5.9 billion for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), an increase of $129 million.

  • $7.6 billion for the Health Resrouces and Services Administration (HRSA), an increase of $485 million.

  • $4 billion in administrative expenses for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), an increase of $315 million.

Miscellaneous:

  • This bill would include the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits the use of federal funds to perform abortion procedures except in cases of rape, incest, or to save the mother’s life.

DEPT. OF EDUCATION: This section would provide $75.9 billion in FY2020 discretionary funding for the Dept. of Education, an increase of $4.5 billion above the prior year.

Title I Grants to Local Educational Agencies: $16.9 billion, an increase of $1 billion, would be provided for grants to school districts and schools with a high percentage of low-income students to help all students succeed and meet challenging academic standards.

Title IV Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants: $1.3 billion, an increase of $150 million, would be provided to support activities aimed at giving students a well-rounded education, including STEM education, computer science, and the use of technology to improve instruction. Grants would also go to ensuring safe and supportive learning environments and responding to school violence.

IDEA Grants to States: $14.5 billion, an increase of $1.05 billion, would go to grants for states to support special education services for children with disabilities, including grants for infants and families and children in preschool.

Pell Grants: The maximum Pell grant award would be increased to $6,345 — an increase of $150 — while funding would be provided to support the Year Round Pell.

DEPT. OF LABOR: This section of the bill would provide $13.3 billion to the Dept. of Labor, an increase of $1.2 billion from the prior year.

Workforce Training Programs: A total of $3 billion would be distributed by formula to states and localities to meet each state’s unique job training and reemployment needs, an increase of $178 million from the prior year.

Job Corps: $1.9 billion would be provided to support Job Corps, an increase of $150 million. Jo Corps is the nation’s largest career technical training and educational program for at-risk youth and has centers in all states, D.C., and Puerto Rico.

Veterans Employment Training (VETS) Programs: VETS programs would receive $316 million in funding, a $16 million increase from the prior year. VETS funding provides for intensive employment services to veterans and eligible spouses, transitioning service members, wounded warriors, and disabled veterans.

STATE & FOREIGN OPERATIONS: This section of the bill would provide $56.4 billion in FY2020 funding for the State Department — an increase of $2.2 billion from the prior year — to carry out diplomacy, promote democracy, provide assistance to allies, and global health programs to help the world’s most vulnerable populations. A breakdown of its various provisions can be found below.

State Dept. Operations: This section of the bill would provide $17.2 billion in funding for State Dept. operations, an increase of $886 million from the prior year. Within the total, $6.1 billion would be provided for embassy security, the same amount as the prior year which will cover facility upgrades and security personnel. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) would receive $1.69 billion, an increase of $16 million from the prior year.

Multilateral assistance would total $2.338 billion, an increase of $482 million, to meet U.S. commitments to international financial institutions and assessed contributions for U.N.  organizations and peacekeeping activities. Funding for family planning would be increased by $175 million from the prior year.

Global Health: This section would provide a total of $9.3 billion in FY2020 funding for global health programs, of which $5.93 billion for the State Department (including PEPFAR).

International Security Assistance: This section of the bill would provide $11.2 billion in FY2020 funding (an increase of $2 billion) for counterterrorism and nonproliferation programs, foreign military training and education programs, peacekeeping operations, plus military equipment for U.S. partners. It’d include:

  • $3.3 billion for Israel, fully meeting U.S. commitments under the 2016 memorandum of understanding.

  • $1.5 billion for Jordan.

  • $445.7 million for Ukraine.

  • $127 million for the Republic of Georgia.

  • $770 million for Eastern Europe and Eurasia.

  • $280 million for the Countering Russian Influence Fund.

  • $540.8 million for the countries of Central America.

  • $18 million for Tibet.

  • $457 million for Colombia, including at least $51 million for democracy and rule of law activities.

  • At least $17.5 million for democracy and the rule of law in Venezuela.

Miscellaneous:

  • This bill would permanently repeal the “Global Gag Rule”, which prevented foreign aid from funding abortion procedures overseas, in addition to preventing the use of funds to implement the Mexico City Policy.

  • The State Dept. would be required to monitor and report on violations of women’s reproductive rights in its annual Human Rights Report.

ENERGY & WATER

This section of the bill would provide $46.4 billion in funding for FY2020 energy and water programs, an increase of $1.8 billion from the year prior.

Nuclear Security: Funding would total $15.9 billion, up $665 million from the prior year. This would include: $11.7 billion for nuclear weapon safety and readiness; and $2 billion for maintaining naval nuclear reactors on aircraft carriers and submarines.

Energy Programs: A total of $13.5 billion would be provided, up $554 million above the prior year, increases energy research toward an “all-of-above” solution to American energy independence.

  • Renewable energy research and development would total $2.65 billion, an increase of $273 million from the prior year.

  • Nuclear energy research & development would total $1.3 billion, up $494 million from the prior year.

  • Fossil energy research & development would total $740 million, equal to the year prior.

Environmental Cleanup: Funding would total $7.1 billion for DOE environmental management activities, an equal amount to the prior year. This would include $6 billion for Defense Environmental Cleanup to continue remediation of sites contaminated by past nuclear weapons production such as Hanford, Savannah River, Oak Ridge, and other DOE sites.

Additionally, this section would provide:

  • $7.36 billion for the Army Corps of Engineers, up $357 million from the prior year, to fund the Corps water resources infrastructure projects.

  • $6.87 billion for the DOE Office of Science, up $285 million from the year prior, which would support basic science research, development of high-performance computing systems, and next generation clean energy sources.

  • $1.63 billion for the Bureau of Reclamation to manage, develop, and protect the water resources of Western states (an increase of $82.8 million).

Argument in favor

No bill is perfect, but this bill contains funding for many bipartisan priorities. It also advances progressive priorities like ending the so-called “global gag rule” that banned foreign aid dollars from going to groups that provide abortions overseas, and allowing “Dreamers” who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children to work for the federal government. Members of Congress need bigger office budgets to do their job effectively.

Argument opposed

Congress shouldn’t cram nearly $1 trillion in spending that would ordinarily be broken out into five bills into one package. This bill (which is subject to a veto threat) contains “poison pill” riders that continue the Hyde Amendment’s restrictions on federal funding for abortions domestically, allow foreign aid to go to groups that provide abortions overseas, and prevent the use of funds to build the border wall. Also, lawmakers shouldn’t vote to give themselves a raise.

Impact

Programs funded under Defense, Labor-Health and Human Services-Education, Legislative Branch, Defense, State-Foreign Operations, and Energy and Water Development appropriations titles.

Cost of H.R. 2740

The CBO estimates that enacting this bill would cost $988.6 billion in fiscal year 2020.

Additional Info

In-Depth: This minibus appropriations package was introduced by Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), who is the chairwoman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Health and Human Services. It’s called a “minibus” spending bill because unlike an “omnibus” spending bill — which bundles all appropriations bills into one — it only bundles several (in this case five).

The five individual appropriations bills that are bundled into this minibus passed the Appropriations Committee on the following votes:

House Democrats amended this bill to remove the Legislative Branch provisions (which passed the committee on a party-line 28-22 vote) after lawmakers on both sides of the aisle expressed concern with provisions increasing members' congressional office budget because of the political optics of voting to give themselves a raise.

The White House announced that President Donald Trump would veto this bill if it were to reach his desk:

"The Administration is strongly opposed to the budgetary framework that underlies this and other appropriations bills being considered by the House of Representatives. This framework would raise the discretionary spending caps by more than $350 billion in fiscal years (FY) 2020 and 2021 and does not reflect either a House-passed budget resolution or a bipartisan, bicameral agreement. It would put the Federal Government on track to add nearly $2 trillion to deficits over 10 years, adding significantly to the national debt, which is already more than $22 trillion and rising."


Media:

Summary by Eric Revell

(Photo Credit: iStock.com / CT757fan)