Sequestration would be a “Devastating Blow” to NIH

Posted on January 16, 2013

NIH Director Francis Collins calls the potential cuts from sequestration a “profound and devastating blow” for medical research. If Congress cannot find a way to achieve debt reduction without massive federal spending cuts, NIH will lose 6.4 percent of its budget this year. This could hurt the availability of research grants. Currently, 80 percent of NIH funding goes to university and medical school researchers but the odds of award have been declining in recent years. According to Collins, only one in six of those that apply receive grants; the chances used to be one in three. And all of this could get much worse if sequestration is implemented.

This Week in DC

Posted on January 14, 2013

Washington, DC is gearing up for the Presidential Inauguration, scheduled to take place on Monday, January 21^st (MLK Day). The Senate will remain in recess until then (they were in recess last week as well), while the House is in session today through Wednesday.

The big issues facing this new Congress continue to be fiscal in nature. Last week, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) confirmed that the administration’s FY2014 budget proposal would be delayed until March. By law, the President’s budget proposal is due to Congress the first Monday in February, which will be February 4^th this year, but many now expect it to be about a month late. Preparation of the FY2014 budget has been complicated by greater than usual uncertainty as Congress has yet to settle on final spending levels for the current fiscal year, which is currently under a continuing resolution (CR) until the end of March. And until last week’s fiscal cliff deal was enacted, it was unclear what tax rates would be in effect or whether $109 billion in automatic spending cuts would begin January 2^nd (sequestration now delayed until the end of February). It now seems possible that the federal government may have to operate under a yearlong CR and that sequester is a distinct possibility.

But before Congress takes final action on FY2013, or preliminary action on FY2014, they must first deal with raising the debt ceiling. It is predicted that the government will begin defaulting on some of its obligations sometime between February 15^th and March 1^st. This debate will begin in earnest in the next couple of weeks, but the partisan messaging has already begun. Republican leadership is indicating that they may force a government shutdown if democrats and the President don’t agree to additional spending cuts in exchange for raising the debt ceiling. Democratic leadership has indicated that they would support the President in lifting the debt ceiling without congressional approval if an agreement cannot be reached in Congress.

While nothing seems certain these days, the one thing that is clear is that Congress will continue it’s partisan fight over how best to deal with deficit reduction and other major policy issues like gun control and immigration.

White House White Board on Tax Deal

Posted on January 4, 2013

For those of you who love to “white board” ideas, this video is for you! In this new White House White Board, Brian Deese, the Deputy Director of the National Economic Council, explains what the new agreement to extend tax cuts for the middle class means for the economy and how it meets our Nation’s economic priorities. College tax credits are mentioned.

Today in Congress

Posted on January 4, 2013

Yesterday marked the first day of the 113^th Congress. For the 84 freshmen members, including Suzan DelBene (D-1^st), Derek Kilmer (D-6^th), and Denny Heck (D-10^th), the real work starts (even though DelBene is a 6-week veteran as she filled the remaining term in Jay Inslee’s old seat). They join Congress at a time when the country faces steep fiscal challenges. Predictable partisan divisions over spending are taking shape in the new House, with Democrats aiming to rework federal borrowing authority guidelines and preserve entitlements, while Republicans are backing more detailed accounting for mandatory spending programs they aim to cut.

The federal government technically exceeded its borrowing capacity on December 31^st, but the Treasury Department is taking what it called “extraordinary measures” to maintain debt payments and effectively extend its limit through the end of February. Congressional Republicans are expected to demand additional spending cuts or changes to entitlement programs in exchange for their support to raise the debt ceiling. Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Geithner is expected to leave his post as early as this month, adding new complications to sensitive fiscal questions that must be answered in the coming weeks. Three battles will come in sequence in the next three months: a pending debt limit increase, a two-month delay in automatic spending cuts under Budget Control Act (PL 112-25), and the March 27^th expiration of funding for government programs under the current continuing resolution (CR).

The House is in session briefly today. Our newest delegation members – DelBene, Kilmer, and Heck – will take their first votes on legislation to increase flood insurance financing related to Hurricane Sandy. After this vote, the House will recess for a week, returning to the Capitol on January 14^th. The Senate is also in session today and hope to pass the Sandy bill by unanimous consent if it clears the House this morning. In addition to the Sandy vote, both chambers will meet in the House for a Joint Session of Congress to count the electoral ballots for president and vice president of the United States.

WELCOME 113TH CONGRESS

Posted on January 3, 2013

The 113th Congress will be sworn in at noon today but will take no break from fighting over fiscal priorities with the opening weeks and months likely to be dominated by partisan fights over the size of a multibillion-dollar disaster aid package (Super Storm Sandy relief package), how to raise the nation’s debt ceiling before the end of February, and calls for additional spending cuts and an overhaul of the federal tax code. President Obama has also called for legislative action on gun control and immigration, two issues that are sure to create more partisan division rather than unity.

Congress approved a fiscal cliff compromise on New Year’s Day, which the President signed late last night using an autopen (he is still on vacation with his family in Hawaii). That legislation postpones the across-the-board spending cuts mandated by last year’s Budget Control Act (sequestration) for two months until March 1^st, right around the time when Treasury will brush up against the debt ceiling. Additionally, the latest continuing resolution (CR) to fund the government expires on March 27^th.

Republicans hope to seize on all these deadlines to win additional spending reductions and/or changes to entitlement programs, but the debt ceiling is likely to be their best leverage against Democrats who have promised to hold firm in opposition.