March 12, 2013
Senator Mikulski (D-MD), Senate Appropriations Chair, has released the Senate version of the continuing resolution for FY 2013. HHS and Education programs will continue to be funded at the FY 2012 levels minus the 5 percent cut as mandated by the March 1st OMB report and sequester order. There are a few interesting sections in… Read More
March 11, 2013
The Senate will take action on a continuing resolution (CR) this week to fund federal government through the end of FY 2013. The current CR expires on March 27th. The Senate bill expands on the House version that was approved in that chamber last week, which combines new Defense and Military Construction-VA bills with a… Read More
March 7, 2013
Yesterday the House approved a six-month continuing resolution (CR) to fund federal government past March 27th when the current CR expires. The bill would shift billions of dollars to military operations to help the Army and Navy cope with automatic spending cuts ordered by the sequester last week. The measure now moves to the Senate,… Read More
March 6, 2013
Federal government is closed today due to an approaching snow storm in the Washington, DC area. It is currently snowing heavily and sideways outside my window, but it is wet snow and doesn’t appear to be sticking much yet. The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning through 3:00am Thursday morning, and the… Read More
February 28, 2013
As predicted, the Senate rejected a Republican bill giving President Obama broad discretion to implement $85.3 billion in spending cuts — or sequester — over the remainder of FY 2013. The proposal failed 38 to 62. Senate Democrats also fell short of the 60 votes needed to move ahead with their own plan to forestall automatic… Read More
February 26, 2013
The Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee will consider the nomination of Sally Jewell to be the Secretary of the Interior next Thursday, March 7th, at 10:30am ET. The hearing will be webcast live on the Committee’s website, and an archived video will be available shortly after the hearing is complete. Witness testimony will be… Read More
February 15, 2013
Yesterday, Congressman Jim McDermott (D-WA) introduced a bill to protect National Institutes of Health (NIH) from impending automatic federal budget cuts. The automatic budget cuts, or “sequester,” will cancel $85 billion in federal spending between March 1 and September 30, including roughly $2 billion from the NIH budget. McDermott’s bill would ensure that NIH’s budget… Read More
February 12, 2013
While it may seem that the White House has been more focused gun control and immigration over the past several weeks, President Obama is expected to make the economy his central theme and renew his call to avoid sequestration when he delivers his State of the Union tonight. There are just 17 days until the… Read More
February 12, 2013
The Senate is in at 10:00am and will vote on a number of amendments to and final passage of the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (S 47). It is expected to pass. The Senate will recess from 12:30pm to 2:15pm for weekly party caucus lunches. The House returns at noon and will consider… Read More
February 11, 2013
Senate Democrats plan to announce a short-term sequester replacement bill this week aimed at combining alternative spending cuts and new tax revenue to avert $85 billion in automatic spending reductions scheduled to begin taking effect March 1st. Republicans, who adamantly oppose any use of tax revenue to replace the sequester, are not part of the… Read More
