Friday, December 16, 2016

What does Appropriations “Regular Order” really look like?

Last week Congress passed, and President Obama signed, another continuing resolution (CR) funding the federal government for the first seven months of FY 2017.  The current CR that was enacted last week will fund the government until April 28, 2017 at FY’16 funding levels giving the incoming 115th Congress time to pass a permanent spending bill.  In these modern times of intense partisanship, funding our government has become a difficult legislative task and appropriation deadlines are more often not met leading to months long CR and sometimes government shutdowns.

Every year, Congressional leaders make promises to adhere to “regular order” to follow the budget and appropriations processes to pass all 12 appropriations bills on time.  The last time all 12 bills were enacted by the federal government’s October 1 start of the new fiscal year was 1996.  Since then most appropriations bills are wrapped up in large omnibus bills and passed many months past the October 1 deadline.  While budget and appropriations deadlines are rarely met, an understanding of what “regular order” looks like will help you in your advocacy efforts.  Below is a list of the timeline of the budget and appropriations process.

  • First Monday in February – The President submits his/her budget request to Congress, kicking off work on the next fiscal year’s federal spending.  The President’s budget request is just a guideline for how the White House would like to see the government funded.  Congress is under no obligation to take the President’s suggestions.  
  • February through May – Congressional Appropriation Committees and Subcommittees begin holding hearings on the President’s budget and begin drafting their own budget.  As a grassroots advocate, this is the best time during the cycle to have the greatest impact in advocating for your causes in the federal budget.
  • April 15 – Is the deadline for Congress to pass a budget resolution.  A budget resolution, among other things, sets the discretionary spending limits and sets spending caps for the Appropriations Committees.
  • May through July – Congress begins marking-up and passing appropriations bills. 
  • August – Congress is on it’s annual, month long recess, spending their time working in the district.  Staff will work and behind the scenes on appropriations bills.  No official work gets done at this time. 
  • September – Congress returns from recess with only a few weeks to finish up work on appropriations legislation.
  • October 1 – The new fiscal year begins and Congress must pass a spending bill or a CR or the government will shutdown.

-- By Jeff Kratz, Contributing Editor, The Sower Group

Thursday, December 08, 2016

Getting ready to turn the page

In this lame duck period (the legislative session between the election and the end of the year) Congress has a busy legislative agenda, which includes passing FY 2017 funding legislation and the National Defense Authorization Act, among others. While this “regular” work is being conducted, Congress is also busy transitioning for the new 115th Congress.

The newly elected incoming House members have just wrapped up two weeks of orientation.  During this time, new members received a crash course in how Capitol Hill works, met fellow incoming and current members, held fundraisers to help pay off outstanding election debt, and received office assignments through a lottery system. 

While the new members were in Washington it allowed for the Republican and Democrat Caucuses to prepare for the next Congress which will begin on January 3, 2017.  Here is what has been completed thus far:

House Democrats last week re-elected Nancy Pelosi of California to a sixth term as House Minority Leader. While she was re-elected on a 134-63 secret ballot vote, she did receive a strong challenge from Ohio Representative Tim Ryan. Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland ran unopposed to remain his House Minority Whip position.

On the Republican side of the House aisle, Republicans have nominated Rep. Paul Ryan to continue to be speaker in the 115th Congress. An official vote for House Speaker will be in January. The Republicans also elected Rep. Kevin McCarthy (CA) to continue to be House Majority Leader and Rep. Steve Scalise (LA) to again be House Majority Whip.

Last week, the Speaker’s Office released the Committee Chairs for the 115th Congress and the Majority Leader’s Office released the 2017 House calendar. House committees and subcommittees will be announced in January. 

In the Senate, Mitch McConnell (KY) was re-elect to another term as Senate Majority Leader and Chuck Schumer (NY) was elected to succeed retiring Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (NV).


As President-elect Trump is busy putting together his administration for next year, so too is the legislative branch of government. The picture of what the American government will look like for the next several years is starting to come into place, giving advocates the time to begin to put together their upcoming legislative strategies.

By Jeff Kratz, Contributing Author, The Sower Group