Funding Crisis Averted & New Leadership in the House:

A week ago no one could have predicted that the biggest story in Washington this week would not be the last minute avoidance of a government shutdown by passage of a Continuing Resolution (CR) funding federal activities through December 11th. However, as we all know, in politics as in life, events can turn on a dime and the announcement by Speaker Boehner that he would be resigning from Congress at the end of October has set the stage for a remarkable transition of power in the House of Representatives that could have an unforeseen impact for the end-of-year legislative calendar – and for the second session of the 114th Congress. While it is always difficult to predict with full certainty what issues Congress will tackle over a certain period of time, we can assume that some variation of the following will play out over the coming months, regardless of who is elected into new GOP leadership.

Fiscal Year 2016 Appropriations – Round Two:

Despite objections from some in the Republican caucus that the CR did not strip Planned Parenthood of federal funding, Congress passed a CR that will fund the government until December 11th, so the Fiscal Year 2016 appropriations process will continue to be a focus. The CR has simply pushed the issue off until just before the holiday season when members of congress will be working to wrap up efforts for the year and head for home. The two most likely scenarios for addressing FY16 spending are an Omnibus spending bill that will set new spending levels for federal activities through the end of the fiscal year, or a long-term CR that simply funds the federal government at current, or potentially lower levels, through the remainder of the fiscal year. However, we cannot discount the possibility that GOP opponents to Planned Parenthood funding will dig in on their position and force a government shutdown come December. Much will depend on the new slate of Republican leadership. It should also be noted that Republican leaders are in negotiation with the Administration on a two year budget plan that, if successful, would avoid a December government shutdown and also help to avert a similar crisis come October 1, 2016 – one month before the next elections. This would be along the lines of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013 (the Ryan-Murray agreement) that raised sequestration caps for 2014 and 2015.