Russ Vought, acting director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, said President Trump plans to propose a fiscal 2020 budget to fund defense and national security priorities without raising the spending caps. Vought wrote in a commentary posted Monday for RealClearPolitics that the proposed budget will designate additional defense resources as overseas contingency operations funds, which are not subject to the budget caps.
Read More »Federal Spending Spree Imminent in Remaining Months of Fiscal 2018; PSC’s David Berteau Comments
Federal agencies are expected to spend up to 40 percent of their fiscal 2018 budgets before the new fiscal year begins in October, Nextgov reported Wednesday. Defense and civilian agencies would have to obligate at least $140 billion in additional budget authorized under the omnibus spending package passed by Congress …
Read More »Report: Senate Plans to Merge Defense Spending Bill With HHS-Labor-Education Measure
Senate lawmakers plan to combine into one package the fiscal year 2019 defense policy bill and the FY 2019 spending measure for the departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and Education, Bloomberg Government reported Monday. Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) said he believes the White House would back the …
Read More »House OKs Fiscal 2019 Spending Package for Military & VA, Energy, Legislative Branch
The House on Friday voted 235-179 to pass a package of three appropriations bills for fiscal year 2019, The Hill reported Friday. The House Appropriations Committee said Friday the “minibus” legislation would authorize $145.4 billion in FY 2019 discretionary funds for military construction and veterans affairs; energy and water; and …
Read More »House Panel Unveils $674.6B Defense Appropriations Bill for Fiscal 2019
The House Appropriations Committee has introduced a bill that would authorize $606.5 billion in base discretionary funds for the Defense Department and $68.1 billion in overseas contingency operations funds for fiscal year 2019. The committee said Wednesday the FY 2019 defense policy bill reflects a $17.1 billion increase from the enacted …
Read More »Rep. Adam Smith: Tax Reform Bill Could Hamper Defense Buildup
Rep. Adam Smith (D-Washing), ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, has said he believes the passage of a tax reform bill does not bode well for future efforts to advance a military buildup and increase defense spending, SpaceNews reported Wednesday. “I think this tax cut passed today means …
Read More »Report: Trump’s Upcoming FY 2018 Budget Proposal to Cut Fed Workforce, Nondefense Programs
The budget proposal that President Donald Trump is due to release in the coming days could shrink the federal workforce at a scale that has not hit the government since World War II, The Washington Post reported Sunday. Damian Paletta writes that the proposed spending for fiscal year 2018 could …
Read More »GAO: Defense Agencies’ Spending on Contracts Dropped 32% in Fiscal 2015
The Government Accountability Office has analyzed governmentwide contracting data from the Federal Procurement Data System-Next Generation database and found that spending on contracts at defense agencies declined by about 32 percent from $399 billion in fiscal year 2011 to $274 billion in FY 2015. GAO said in a report released Thursday that civilian agencies’ …
Read More »CBO: Annual US Deficit Fell to Lowest Point in 8 Years
The Congressional Budget Office has published an infographic report that indicates the $439 billion U.S. budget shortfall the agency recorded for fiscal 2015 was the government’s smallest deficit since fiscal 2007. CBO said Wednesday federal debt held by the public at the end of FY 2015 was 74 percent of gross domestic product, the highest annual …
Read More »Mackenzie Eaglen: FY 2016 Spending Bill to Take Shape After CR
Mackenzie Eaglen, a defense analyst at the American Enterprise Institute, believes Congress will likely execute a short-term continuing resolution to fund the government through Oct. 1 as lawmakers continue negotiations on the fiscal year 2016 budget. Eaglen wrote in a guest piece published Tuesday on Breaking Defense the spending bill is among other …
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