Lawmakers and the White House have less than three weeks to agree on the 12 spending bills for fiscal year 2020.
The fiscal year began Oct. 1, but continuing resolutions have kept the government operating at last fiscal year’s levels through Dec. 20.
Appropriators have a big picture agreement on how to allocate the budget across the 12 spending bills, Politico reported.
As appropriators return to D.C. from their Thanksgiving break – the Senate goes into session Monday and the House re-convenes Tuesday – they will work on the specific bills and other sticking points, such as border wall funding.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) have said they want to finish all appropriations bills by the end of the year, but rank and file members of the appropriations committees have expressed pessimism about that timeline, especially as the impeachment process progresses and the presidential primary race heats up.
New Guidance on DOD Civilian Hiring Freeze
The heads of the military services may now ask for exemptions to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s blanket hiring freeze for all civilian positions, according to a new memo. “While the Department remains under the hiring freeze, DOD will only hire mission-essential...
