After significant delay and months of negotiation, Congress has passed agreements on a twin set of packages to fund the government and provide coronavirus relief.
The measures will have far-reaching impacts on federal agencies, setting line-by-line funding for every office in government for fiscal 2021. Nearly all federal agencies will see a funding boost in the $1.4 trillion omnibus as a result of a two-year budget agreement President Trump signed in 2019. Lawmakers included some notable provisions for federal operations in the $900 billion COVID-19 relief package as well. They did not include all of the requests made by federal employee advocates, but civil servants will see a small pay bump next year as a result of the deal (read our full coverage of the pay and benefits implications of the measures here).
Here is a look at other significant provisions in the bills as they relate to federal agencies:
U.S. Postal Service: The cash-strapped mail agency will at long last receive part of the financial assistance it has requested. Congress provided a $10 billion cash infusion to USPS by converting a previously approved line of credit into a grant. Both Postmaster General Louis DeJoy and his predecessor Megan Brennan have said some appropriation would be necessary to offset the losses the Postal Service sustained during the pandemic, as a result of both mail volume losses and increased sick leave and personal protective equipment costs. The funding falls short of the $25 billion House Democrats approved earlier this year and the $75 billion in relief postal management originally sought under Brennan’s leadership, but will help USPS stave off any immediate liquidity crisis.
Offsets for other losses: The omnibus funding bill will provide Customs and Border Protection with $840 milli ..
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