FY 2010 Budget Cycle

Senate Continues to Struggle with Appropriations

Congress is preparing to pass a second continuing resolution (CR), as the first stopgap appropriations measure is set to expire on Oct. 31 and little progress has been made toward completing the remaining appropriations bills in the Senate. As the window of opportunity to pass all the appropriations bills individually continues to close, even the once-optimistic head of the Senate appropriations process has stated that Congress will likely have to use an omnibus spending bill to finish the work before the end of 2009.

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Congress Will Never Finish Appropriations

Oct 23, 2009 by Gary Therkildsen*

Several stories this week from Capitol Hill are painting a bleak picture for the appropriations process this year. Just weeks ago, legislators thought that the process would only take until November, tops. Now it seems they'll be lucky to be done by the end of the year, and hopefully won't have to cram everything into an omnibus bill.

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Congress Passes Continuing Resolution

Oct 6, 2009 by Gary Therkildsen*

With the end of the fiscal year upon it, Congress, as expected, passed a continuing resolution (CR) last Wednesday to provide short-term funds to government agencies and prevent a government shutdown. As reported by Congressional Quarterly (subscription required), the CR will keep most discretionary programs operating at fiscal 2009 levels through Oct. 31. Congress intends to use the extra time to pass its remaining FY 2010 appropriations bills.

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Congress Attempts to Wrap up Appropriations

With the end of the fiscal year quickly approaching on Sept. 30, congressional leaders plan to pass a continuing resolution (CR) to keep government agencies funded through the end of October and allow additional time for appropriations work to continue. Although not a guarantee, the additional time should allow Congress to finish its appropriations work, preventing the need for an omnibus spending bill before the end of the year.

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Everyone Who Wants the Government to Continue Functioning, Say "Aye"

Sep 21, 2009 by Gary Therkildsen*

National Journal (subscription required) is reporting today that the House plans on taking up stopgap legislation on Wednesday to continue funding the federal government after appropriations for the year run out on Sept. 30.

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Busy, Busy, Busy: An Appropriations Update

Sep 3, 2009 by Gary Therkildsen*

An update on the appropriations process from the Hill today declares that, barring – in the words of one House Democratic aide – "a miracle," Congress will not pass all 12 spending bills before the end of the fiscal year, which is just a few short weeks away.

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Congress Accepts Very Few of Obama's Proposed Cuts

Aug 18, 2009 by Adam Hughes*

With the release of his detailed budget information in May, President Obama proposed cutting or scaling back 121 programs that would save the government $17 billion in FY 2010 - a very small first step in getting the budget deficit under control. Yesterday, CongressDaily published an article that examined the degree to which Congress accepted Obama's proposed cuts and the results are underwhelming.

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Time for Recess: An August Appropriations Update

Aug 6, 2009 by Jocelyn Yin*

As the Senate finishes up a few important matters before the August recess, including a Cash-for-Clunkers vote, it's time to take a look at what else is going on in regular Senate business. Unfortunately, the Senate is behind schedule, and it remains unlikely that all appropriations bills will be resolved prior to the start of the new fiscal year on Oct 1.

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