As part of the agreement to pass the continuing resolution, Congress approved the FY17 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs (MilCon-VA) Appropriations Act. The bill was the first and so far only one of the 12 annual appropriations bills in the House and Senate that make up federal spending to be adopted. MilCon-VA is often the least contentious of the appropriations bills in a given year. All of the 11 remaining appropriations measures have cleared the Senate and House Appropriations Committees, but only five have passed the House, and three passed the Senate. The House has approved the Defense, Interior Environment, Legislative Branch, Financial Services and MilCon-VA bills, while the Senate has approved Energy and Water, Transportation HUD, and MilCon-VA. Negotiations over the appropriations legislation came to a halt earlier in the summer when partisan disagreements and the forthcoming election forced a shift from FY17 appropriations to passing a CR.

Takeaway: Expect to see consideration of the outstanding 11 appropriations bills during the post-election "lame duck" congressional session. There may be an attempt to create one large bill (an omnibus) or alternatively a number of smaller bills incorporating multiple appropriations bills (minibuses).