With pressure coming from the Pentagon for additional funds for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq before the August recess the Senate, in a calculated move, brought to the floor the House-passed version of the FY 2010 war supplemental spending bill (H.R. 4899) on July 22.  As anticipated, the Senate rejected the House bill which contained domestic spending provisions not in the original Senate bill.  Twelve members of the Democratic Caucus joined all Republicans in opposition to the House bill which failed on a 46-51 vote.
On May 27, the Senate passed its $58.8 billion version of the H.R. 4899 which largely funds the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and includes $5.1 billion for FEMA disaster assistance, $2.9 billion for Haiti, and $162 million for the Gulf Coast oil spill. Then on July 1, after adding almost $23 billion in funding for domestic programs, the House passed the bill by a vote of 239-182.  Although fully paid for, the Senate refused to fund the provisions added by the House including $10 billion to preserve 140,000 jobs for school employees next school year, $4.95 billion to address an unanticipated shortfall in the Pell Grant Program, $1 billion in 2010 and 2011 for summer and year-round jobs for workers age 24 and younger and settlements of long-running lawsuits to black farmers and American Indians for $1.15 billion and $3.4 billion respectively.

The House must now decide whether to accept the Senate version of the bill or try to preserve some of the domestic funding included in their bill.  The House begins its August recess on July 30.  If they chose to add provisions to the $58.5 version of the bill and pass it, the bill would then need to go back to the Senate for another vote.

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