Posts Tagged ‘appropriations’

The spending package unveiled Monday by the Senate Appropriations Committee to fund the government through Sept. 30 does not grant DOD any special reprogramming authority to help it cope with the $46 billion cut it will suffer under sequestration. Senate appropriators wanted to provide all federal agencies additional budget flexibility to mitigate the cuts, but were deterred by House Republicans who said they would not go along with that plan …

Democrats and Republicans on the Senate Appropriations Committee settled on a continuing resolution Monday to fund the government through the end of the fiscal year that retains the individual spending bills for defense and military construction-veterans affairs passed last week by the House. The defense spending bill is critical for the Pentagon as it would restore some of the military’s operations and maintenance funding shortfall that has prompted the services to drastically curtail spending on readiness activities through the end of fiscal 2013 …

DOD officials are telling congressional staff that the Obama administration is planning to issue its fiscal 2014 budget request April 8, reported CQ. As recently as last week, congressional committees had been expecting the budget on March 25. The new target, which falls nine weeks after the White House is statutorily required to submit its budget to Congress, coincides with the date lawmakers return from their Easter break. Neither the White House nor DOD has publicly said when the new spending plan will be ready. The administration’s delay in producing the budget means that the two chambers’ budget committees will not see the FY 2014 budget request before they mark up their budget resolutions next week.

Senate Democrats plan to add three individual spending bills to the continuing resolution passed by the House on Wednesday, a move that doesn’t necessarily threaten a showdown with Republicans but could slow passage of legislation needed to keep the government running after March 27. On Thursday, Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) said she would add three relatively noncontroversial spending bills — most likely agriculture, homeland security and commerce-justice-science — to the House spending package for fiscal 2013 …

The House on Wednesday approved a spending bill to keep the government open through the end of the fiscal year that also provides flexibility to the Pentagon to alleviate some of the funding shortfall in its operations and maintenance account. Most Democrats opposed the bill, saying it locks in the $85 billion sequester and fails to provide similar flexibility to non-defense agencies to mitigate the across-the-board spending cuts …

Senate Democrats said Tuesday they would accept the spending level in the fiscal 2013 continuing resolution introduced by the House, signaling they would not seek to hold up a measure to keep the federal government running over an effort to rescind the $85 billion sequester. While Senate Democrats indicated they would not attempt to alter topline funding in the continuing resolution, they likely will consider shifting some funding among agencies …

Actions required to complete base closures, including cleanup activities, could be delayed as the Army faces a funding shortfall in fiscal 2013 due to the sequester, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno told lawmakers on Capitol Hill Tuesday. Delays in completing documents, permits, policy approvals, contracts and other actions are expected due to civilian furloughs and reductions to the contractor personnel who oversee and carry out the BRAC program, Odierno stated in the written testimony he submitted to the House Military Construction-Veterans Affairs Appropriations Subcommittee …

Senate leaders may take a different approach than the House to the continuing resolution it unveiled Monday, but with both sides intent on avoiding the threat of a government shutdown, any changes that could hold up progress of the measure to keep the government running through September 30 are unlikely. The House measure provides budget relief for the Pentagon by providing individual spending bills for defense and military construction that reflect DOD’s fiscal 2013 priorities, rather than relying on a continuing resolution that is largely based on the previous year’s enacted appropriations …

With the $85 billion sequester for fiscal 2013 going ahead, the main hope for mitigating it this year will come as Congress takes up a new continuing resolution to keep the government running past March 27. As long as Democrats insist on a balanced approach to replacing the across-the-board spending reductions that includes alternate cuts as well as tax increases, the two parties almost certainly will not strike a deal to eliminate them …

The House introduced a spending measure Monday that would fund the government through the end of the fiscal year while restoring some of the military’s operations and maintenance funding shortfall that has prompted the services to drastically curtail spending on readiness activities through the end of fiscal 2013. The legislation — which includes individual appropriation bills for defense and military construction-veterans affairs along with a continuing resolution for the remainder of the government — would shift $10.4 billion into DOD’s operations and maintenance accounts to fund priorities such as training, weapons maintenance, civilian personnel and the defense health program that would be threatened under a full-year continuing resolution …