After weeks of intense negotiations, House and Senate leaders last month were able to cobble together enough votes to pass legislation funding the federal government through fiscal year 2018 hours before reaching the deadline. In doing so, Congress was able to break a cycle of short-term continuing resolutions that, while allowing agencies to continue to…
The House and Senate returned from the August recess to a full plate of legislative must-dos. At the forefront, of course, was passing legislation to fund the recovery effort from Hurricane Harvey. Also pressing were legislation funding the federal government (with current allocations set to expire at the end of the month) and a bill…
This week marks the beginning of August recess, traditionally a slow period in Washington, when Congress is out of session and members of Congress and staff return to their home districts. In a year of many unusual twists and turns, however, next month will be a little different than the norm. Although Congress has adjourned…
After months of waiting, the U.S. House of Representatives Interior Appropriations Subcommittee introduced and approved legislation this week that would fund the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) for fiscal year 2018. Always a critical point in the appropriations process, this year’s figure was especially anticipated because President Trump’s budget request to Congress for FY2018…
Last month, President Trump released his full fiscal year 2018 budget request to Congress. That document calls for significant increases in spending for the departments of Defense (more than $50 billion) and Homeland Security (more than $3 billion). To offset these increases, some agencies would experience substantial reductions in funding (the Department of Education would…