Despite lacking a budget resolution, the House of Representatives is expected to take up its first three appropriations bills this week, likely starting with the Agriculture bill on Wednesday. Because they have yet to pass a resolution however, the House will have to establish a discretionary spending cap before they can consider the first appropriations bill on the floor. To do so, the House would likely add a "deeming resolution" to the first bill on the floor. A deeming resolution is necessary in the absense of a budget resolution to allow the apporpriations process to move forward. It is unclear if the House would approve the discretionary budget cap in a deeming resolution of $873 billion (the president's requested funding level and the amount included in the still pending budget resolution). If there were sufficient votes to approve such a provision, the House should have been able to pass the budget resolution already. A more likely scenario would be an individual cap on each appropriations bill as it is considered on the floor. This would continue this chamber's finely tuned sense of irony because the essential purpose of the budget resolution is to start from a wide view and not construct a budget piecemeal. I suppose this should not come as a surprise however as this House really has never concerned itself with good process over the last few years.