The appropriations process is proceeding through Congressional committees but is moving more slowly through the full House and Senate. Twelve spending bills are required to keep the government operating; the House has passed 10 through appropriations subcommittees, eight of those through the full House appropriations committee, but only two through the full House (another was taken up by the full House but was rejected). Despite this movement, House leaders still haven’t released spending limits for the 12 appropriations subcommittees, known as 302(b) allocations. The Senate has passed nine spending bills through its appropriations subcommittees and full committee, and three on the Senate floor. None of have been enacted into law. After the House’s FY17 Energy-Water spending bill failed on the House floor (112-305) in late May due to contentious riders, Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) indicated last week that amendments to spending bills will be limited going forward, a reversal of the position he announced when he took over the top job.
With the limited number of days left on the Congressional calendar this year, a temporary stop-gap measure to keep the government funded after September 30 is almost surely in the forecast. For more information on all things budget, see our FY17 budget resource page and our May 16 Human Needs Report.

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