A Bit of Breathing Room: Last week, we sent a special edition of The Topline to your inbox in light of news that member request deadlines had been announced on a very short timetable, with less than a week for members to submit their requests in the House and two weeks in the Senate.
While congressional staff worked into the evenings this week to finalize requests, the House Appropriations Committee gave everyone some breathing room on Wednesday, pushing the CJS, Interior-Environment, and Transportation-HUD member request deadlines from May 3 to May 10. Requests for Agriculture-FDA, Energy and Water, and Homeland Security projects, as well as programmatic and report language, still must be submitted before midnight tonight.
The clock is running out for FY25 requests, but if you have outstanding submissions and haven't communicated with staff, it is advisable to follow up with your congressional friends to ensure they have your request on their radar.
Battle of the Caps: The Washington Capitals may be out of the Stanley Cup playoffs, but members of Congress are steeped in their own battle involving caps: budget caps that were agreed to last year when negotiators reached a deal on raising the debt ceiling.
You may recall that last year's deal set one percent spending increases for both defense and non-defense discretionary accounts for FY25. Now, Republicans (along with some Democrats) are signaling their intention to call for defense increases above the one percent cap. Democrats, including Chair Murray and Ranking Member DeLauro, are insisting that any proposed increase to the Pentagon's budget will have to be met with a matching increase to non-defense spending. Any substantial changes to the topline will be decided by leadership and implemented by appropriators.
The House will likely use the topline which was agreed upon last year in order to move forward quickly. House subcommittee allocations will reflect Republican priorities in the markups this summer. They will hold to a traditional Cole theory: it's easier to add funding in conference negotiations than to take it away.
Busy Summer Ahead: Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Patty Murray made news this week by committing to hold markups this appropriations cycle, though she did not provide a specific timeline for doing so. House Appropriations Committee Chair Tom Cole has said he would like to begin markups as soon as possible and conclude all markups before the August recess.
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