The current FY17 continuing resolution (CR) funding the federal government expires on April 28. With the House and Senate in recess the next two weeks, that leaves only one week for them to pass a spending bill when they return. Discussions are currently underway between House and Senate appropriators. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said that there are more than 100 unresolved issues remaining in these talks.
Appropriators also need to consider the supplemental funding request the Trump administration submitted to Congress last month. Rep. Kay Granger (R-TX), Chair of the House Defense Appropriations subcommittee, said that she did not expect the full $30B defense supplemental funding request to be added to the FY17 omnibus spending bill. Democratic appropriators have warned that including the President’s supplemental funding request could doom an FY17 spending deal. And some Republicans have already dismissed the $18B in domestic discretionary spending cuts that were also proposed by the President. While the FY17 supplemental will likely have to be considered separately from the FY17 omnibus, it is unclear if the Administration will veto the final spending bill if it doesn’t include his supplemental funding request.
With time running out, there is the possibility of another weeklong FY17 CR to buy some time before the House and Senate can complete an FY17 omnibus spending bill.