Senate Recesses, Completes Only 4 of 13 Spending Bills

After passing the Corporate Tax Bill on Columbus Day, the Senate approved with little debate measures to fund both the Military Construction and Homeland Security appropriations bills for FY 2005, which began Oct. 1. Together with the Defense and the District of Columbia appropriations bills Congress recently approved, these bring the total passed to only four of the thirteen bills needed to fund discretionary spending for FY 2005.

Thomas E. Mann of the Brookings Institution summarized this failure for the Washington Post saying, "This [congressional] session ranks among the least productive and most contentious in modern legislative history."

The $10 billion Military Construction bill appropriated $5.5 billion towards military construction, $4 billion towards family housing, and roughly $500 million towards other programs, including a Naval Security Investment Program and Chemical Demilitarization Construction. The bill was a $687 million increase over the FY 2004 appropriation, and a $450 million increase above President Bush's request.

The Homeland Security appropriations bill provides $32 billion for the operations and activities of the Department of Homeland Security. This is a $1.1 billion increase from FY 2004 levels, and almost $500 million above the President's request. The bill's major expenses include $9.8 billion appropriated towards border protection, and $5.5 billion appropriated towards transportation security. The $32 billion total excludes both the $2 billion spent for the recovery from hurricanes Charley and Frances, as well as $6.5 billion in pending supplemental funds that will go towards relief for hurricanes Ivan and Jeanne.

In lieu of completing its fiscal business, Congress passed a CR (continuing resolution) to fund all other programs at FY 2004 levels until the remaining nine bills can be addressed in the post-election lame duck session. Those will almost certainly be inserted into a massive omnibus spending bill, which, because it would contain the vital appropriations bills, will give members the opportunity to attach all sorts of measures to benefit their own constituents. Keep an eye out for excessive pork barrel spending when legislators reconvene.

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