Moreover, even the agreed-on level for 2025 — a 1 percent increase over the 2024 level, not adjusted for inflation — would deepen the erosion over the past decade and a half in the purchasing power of non-defense funding, which supports a wide range of public services. [...] Some of these agreed-on adjustments had also been included in the 2023 appropriations bills (prior to the FRA), but the side agreements for 2024 and 2025 increased the funding that is freed up under the caps. [...] The agreed-on totals for these adjustments are $69 billion in 2024 and roughly $69.7 billion in 2025.2 Of the agreed-on adjustments for 2024 and 2025, $27.5 billion mirrored adjustments enacted as part of 2023 appropriations; the remainder reflected new adjustments or expansions of those used in 2023. [...] The results of this underfunding include record-long waits of nearly eight months for initial determinations of eligibility for disability benefits, an additional seven-month wait for those who appeal, and long wait times on hold for those who phone SSA for help.12 In light of the many needs and the tight constraints under the existing caps, the Administration’s fiscal year 2025 budget proposed $7. [...] Similarly, Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Patty Murray has said that a 1 percent increase in 2025 will be insufficient for both defense and non-defense and has indicated a desire for additional funding.13 And Senator Susan Collins, ranking Republican member of the committee, has emphasized the inadequacy of the defense cap.14 For the 2024 appropriations bills, the Senate Appropriations Comm.
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