There has been little movement on the FY 2007 budget resolution since it was pulled from the House floor before the April congressional recess. Despite a deal late last week between Majority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) and Appropriations Committee Chairman Jerry Lewis (R-CA) that removed one of three major obstacles to approval in the House, the outlook for the resolution remains bleak. Before the April recess, during attempts to craft a compromise over spending levels between conservatives and moderates within the Republican caucus, Boehner agreed to a budget process provision requiring that the Budget Committee approve all non-defense emergency spending over $4.3 billion. This irked Lewis, who withdrew his support for the resolution and took members of the Appropriations Committee with him. Because the support of approximately two dozen moderate Republicans was already in doubt due to the drastically low spending levels outlined in the resolution, there was no way for the GOP leadership to pass the bill. With Lewis' support back, it is now possible, though still unlikely, that the resolution will pass. One remaining obstacle is continued dissatisfaction among moderates that could keep the resolution from garnering a majority should they join with all the Democrats in opposition. Led by Rep. Mike Castle (R-DE), 23 moderates have publicly stated the need for this year's budget to include more discretionary spending, now set at just $873 billion. Whether those Republicans will be willing to vote against a budget approving such meager discretionary spending could depend on promises from their leadership to shift defense funds toward domestic spending needs in education and health care. Further dampening the possibility of a budget, the House Appropriations Committee is scheduled to begin work on the Agriculture, Military Construction-VA, and Interior appropriations bills this week and plans move at least two to the floor the week of May 15, with two or three more to come the following week. With the appropriations process likely to be in full swing, a continued push by GOP leadership for a resolution in May could be unnecessary and even damaging. Even the Majority Leader stated before the House recessed that there may be little point in having a resolution if one was not at least passed by both chambers by the end of April. Still Boehner has stated more recently that he would still like to pass a budget and believes it is possible within the next few weeks, perhaps as early as this week. The resolution has not been scheduled for debate on the floor however, and even if the House does pass a budget, at this point in the legislative year - a historically short one at that - it may serve little more than damage control leading up to the November elections. The House has succeeded in passing its version of the budget every year since Republicans re-took control of the chamber in 1994.