Legislative Activity Markups on Appropriations Bills Begin in the House this Week with FY2018 MilCon-VA Bill; House Republican Members Push for an Omnibus Before August Recess Appropriations subcommittees in the House will commence FY 2018 spending bill markups this week, with the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs (MilCon-VA) subcommittee markup scheduled for this evening. Still … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity With a Passing Glance at the President’s Request, Congress Continues Work on FY 2018 Appropriations President Trump’s FY 2018 budget request, which was released on May 23, was received in Congress with reservation by Democrats and Republicans alike. The $4.09 trillion federal budget request, entitled “A New Foundation for American Greatness,” proposes cutting … Continue Reading
Executive Branch Activity Trump Releases FY 2018 Budget Blueprint Last week, President Donald Trump released his FY 2018 “skinny budget,” intended to serve as the blueprint for his full budget request expected in May. As anticipated, the $1.1 trillion budget request adheres to the topline discretionary spending cap of $1.1 trillion mandated by the Budget … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity FY 2017: House Passes Defense Appropriations Bill, What About the Rest? The House passed its $577.9 billion FY 2017 defense appropriations bill (H.R. 1301) last week by a vote of 371-48 which included a $6.8 billion increase in procurement funding above the Obama Administration’s budget request for the fiscal year. The chamber still … Continue Reading
Executive Branch Activity Trump’s FY 2018 “Skinny Budget” Expected Mid-March The Trump Administration is reporting it will release its FY 2018 budget proposal by mid-March, according to White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer. The proposal is expected to be a “skinny budget” and provide an outline of the President’s fiscal goals, while a more comprehensive … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity OMB Director-Nominee Rep. Mulvaney’s Confirmation Vote Moves to the Full Senate Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-SC) is one step closer to being confirmed as President Donald Trump’s Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) after being confirmed in a party-line vote by the Senate Committee on the Budget (12-11) and the Senate … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House and Senate to Continue Appropriations Bills Markups, Floor Consideration The House and Senate Appropriations Committees will continue to markup appropriations bills this week, while the House is expected to consider its FY 2017 Energy and Water Development Appropriations bill on the floor. It is unclear which appropriations bill the Senate will consider … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senate Considering THUD and MilCon-VA, After Finally Passing Energy-Water Bill This week, the Senate will resume consideration of the FY 2017 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD) Appropriations Act and the FY 2017 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs (MilCon-VA) Appropriations Act, after finally passing the FY 2017 Energy and Water Development (Energy-Water) Appropriations … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senate Republicans Hope ‘Third Time is the Charm’ on Energy-Water Bill The Senate will bring up the FY 2017 Energy and Water Development (Energy-Water) Appropriations Act for a third cloture vote on the Senate floor this week. The previous votes both failed to reach the requisite 60 ayes, as Democrats have chosen to … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senate Continues Consideration of Appropriations Bills, House Process Delayed The Senate is expected to pass the FY 2017 Energy and Water Development (Energy-Water) Appropriations bill as early as this week, after considering numerous amendments on the floor last week. In addition to the Energy-Water bill, the Senate may begin consideration of the FY … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Appropriations Process in Full Swing as House and Senate Mark Up Bills Both the House and Senate Appropriations Committees will hold subcommittee and full committee appropriations bill markups and release 302(b) suballocations this week, even without an approved budget resolution in either chamber. The budget process has stalled in both the House and … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Budget Resolution Markup Possible This Week House Budget Committee Chairman Tom Price (R-GA) has kept the Budget Committee’s schedule open this week in the hopes of marking up an FY 2017 budget resolution. While the markup has not yet been scheduled, it would likely take place on Tuesday or Wednesday. Chairman Price and … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House Republicans Look for Mandatory Cuts to Make Passage of a Budget Resolution Possible House Budget Committee Chairman Tom Price (R-GA) and House Republican Leadership continue to look for cuts to mandatory spending to offset the $30 billion increase in discretionary spending for FY 2017 called for in last year’s bipartisan budget deal. … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House Republicans Work Towards an Agreement on Spending Republicans may be nearing a deal that will make passage of a budget much easier in the House. Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) recently told House Republicans the best way to advance conservative policy priorities during the upcoming appropriations process is to approve a budget, and … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity President to Release Budget Tuesday, to Republican Opposition On Tuesday, February 9, the White House will release President Barack Obama’s fiscal year (FY) budget request, his final one. The President’s budget will be dead on arrival in Congress but can be an important messaging document, particularly heading into a presidential election year. The … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Congress Kicks Off Budget Process This week, the Congressional fiscal year (FY) 2017 budget process begins in earnest, as the House and Senate Budget Committees hold budget hearings and various committees mark up their “Views and Estimates.” While President Barack Obama will not release his budget until February 9, Congress is not waiting … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity President to Release Budget on February 9, Starting FY 2017 Appropriations Process The White House recently announced they will release the President’s budget request for FY 2017 on February 9. This will be the final budget request of his presidency, and is expected to adhere to the discretionary spending levels put in place … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Omnibus Negotiations Continue, Funding Runs Out This Friday Despite having a budget deal, negotiations over policy riders in the forthcoming $1.1 trillion omnibus bill continue this week. Last week, Congressional Republicans proposed an omnibus bill that included several contentious policy riders, which the Democrats were quick to reject and make a counter-offer. The … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Omnibus Negotiations Continue As Deadline Approaches The House and Senate continue to negotiate an omnibus spending bill, though time is running out as the current continuing resolution (CR) only funds the Federal government through December 11. Complicating the negotiations are disagreements over several policy riders that Republicans would like to include in the … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senate and House to Focus on Appropriations Bills Under New Caps Following the recent two-year budget and debt ceiling agreement, The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015, the House and Senate are now working under new discretionary caps, increased by $50 billion for FY 2016 and equally divided between defense and non-defense programs. The … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Two-Year Budget Agreement Approved Late last week, the House and Senate sent to the President a two-year bipartisan budget/debt ceiling agreement, The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 (House vote 266-167; Senate vote 64-35). In addition to suspending the debt limit through March 15, 2017, the proposal raises sequestration-level discretionary budget caps by $80 … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Debt Ceiling Looms Over House Speaker Elections According to the Treasury Department, the debt ceiling will be reached on November 3, leaving the House only five more legislative days to increase it. Complicating the issue, the floor vote for a new House Speaker is scheduled for Thursday, October 29, with Rep. Paul Ryan … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Budget Negotiations Continue Amidst Busy Congressional Calendar Budget negotiations between staff for Republican leadership, the White House, and Democrats are ongoing, but there have been few signs of progress. Democrats have recently announced they will not accept changes to entitlements as part of a budget deal to increase government spending, increasing the likelihood … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Budget Negotiations Begin Recently, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) began discussions with President Barack Obama on a budget deal. The three of them participated in a conference call to lay the foundation for negotiations, and while Majority Leader McConnell reportedly pushed to keep Democratic Leadership in … Continue Reading
