The budget circus is gearing up for its next act in Washington to the great surprise of almost nobody. The current spending bill keeping the lights on in D.C. is set to expire next week on Friday the 16th. The appropriation committees have been in negotiations over this for months on end and prior to the election it looked as if there might have been a path toward some sort of bipartisan agreement in the works. But as of last night, the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee said that the two sides were still separated by roughly $25 billion, with Republicans looking for more cuts to non-military spending and there may not be enough GOP support for the current version to pass. If that happens, Patrick Leahy and Nancy Pelosi are both threatening to put forward a one-year omnibus spending bill with no changes to current spending levels. The GOP would prefer a one-month extension, waiting until they take control of the House and could exert more leverage on the process. (Government Executive)Read More
A year-long stopgap spending bill?
