Be sure to check out the latest article from two GW law professors on efforts to make no-bid contracts and other erasures of procurement law the rule rather than the exception in natural disasters and other crisis events. From the abstract:

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) will call on President Bush today to give Congress a list of offsets to potentially make up for spending related to Hurricane Katrina. This request is partially based on the fact that Katrina spending has conservatives in both chambers of Congress worried about how this recovery spending will affect the nation's deficits. Frist will also apparently call on the President to do a formal Budget Act "rescission request" that would temporarily -- and possibly permanently -- suspend some federal spending to help pay for Katrina relief. According to an aide, Frist did not provide details on possible dollar figures, either for the offsets or the rescission request. Under the Budget Act provision (which is also known as impoundment authority) the White House can temporarily suspend federal spending for up to 45 days of "continuous session," typically 60 days from the date of the request. Suspending regular spending to deal with the cost of Katrina is neither responsible nor is it necessary. Yes, Katrina spending will add to our deficit, but the deficit can be brought down by a combination of responsible spending cuts and phasing out (or repealing) certain tax cuts. Frist's "responsible" call for a suspension on spending leads one to wonder where he and other prominent GOP leaders were when Bush passed trillions of dollars worth of tax cuts in 2001 and 2003.

Fiscal year 2005 ends this Friday, Sept. 30, and House and Senate Republican leaders have not been able to pass all spending bills for FY 2006 on the floor. Thus, we can expect them to pass a stop-gap funding bill to cover federal government spending by the end of the week. According to an aide, GOP leaders in both chambers will push through a CR to fund government programs through Nov. 18. While some believe this extension will give appropriators sufficient time to wrap up their work on the outstanding FY 2006 appropriations bills, others think GOP leaders will not make their ambitious goal to pass all of the bills as separate measures this year. While the House has passed all eleven of its spending bills, the Senate has only passed eight of twelve, and only two of those have been given final approval and sent to Bush for his signature.

A http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/28/opinion/28wed4.html ">New York Times Op-Ed on the changes to Head Start: House Republicans have an alarming plan for Head Start, the early childhood program for some of the nation's most impoverished children and their families: They want to give religious groups that sponsor local Head-Start programs license to discriminate by not hiring otherwise qualified individuals who do not share a particular religion.