Lawmakers have given themselves about six more weeks to fund the government for the current fiscal year, which will be almost half over when that deadline arrives. None of the 12 appropriations bills has gotten through the full process.

Here’s a timeline of what we’re watching next:

March 1: Four spending bills will expire, including the bill to fund military construction and Veterans Affairs.

March 8: The remaining eight spending bills will expire, including those funding defense and homeland security.

April 30: If the government is still operating under a continuing resolution on this date, there will be additional cuts as part of last year’s deal to raise the debt limit. It would cut $10 billion from the budget for DOD, which is already operating on an out-of-date budget. Patrick O’Brien, director of the DOD Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation raised alarm bells about this at ADC’s Installation Innovation Forum, as On Base reported. Lawmakers also could vote to do away with the provision, as Military Times Deputy Editor Leo Shane III told America’s Defense Communities | The Podcast.

Supplemental Spending

Lawmakers are still working on the immigration language to go into President Biden’s supplemental spending request for aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. The Senate may consider a bill next week, but House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has signaled that his chamber won’t simply pass a Senate bill without adding its own immigration language.

DOD photo by Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Alexander Kubitza