Lawmakers are set to consider a package of annual spending bills this week, including measures to slash the salaries of top Biden administration officials and defund special counsel Jack Smith’s prosecutions against former President Donald Trump.
The House Appropriations Committee will mark up three spending bills, including proposals to fund the departments of Defense and Homeland Security, as well as state and foreign operations. The committee will also continue work on other spending bills, including the Commerce, Justice, and Science appropriations bills, which allocate funding for agencies such as the Justice Department.
The Commerce, Justice, and Science bill has drawn attention due to a proposed measure to defund DOJ special counsel Jack Smith’s prosecutions against Trump. This provision has been requested by some of Trump’s top allies in the House, including Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.
Jordan has also made funding requests to cut funds for “politicized prosecutions” from state and local prosecutors, specifically naming Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis in Georgia, and New York Attorney General Letitia James, each of whom has opened cases against Trump.
House Speaker Mike Johnson has indicated that the House GOP will “rein in the abuses” of Smith’s office, arguing that its prosecutions are evidence that “the judicial system in our country has been weaponized against President Trump.” Trump is running for a second term against his 2020 rival, President Joe Biden.
The House Appropriations Committee will continue marking up the DOJ spending bill, which is expected to come to the floor for a vote in mid-July.
Meanwhile, GOP leaders are looking to advance the Defense, Homeland, and SFOPS bills to the floor this week for full consideration. However, there are already over 800 amendments filed for the three appropriations bills, including measures to slash the salaries of top Biden administration officials, such as Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
