Federal Government Policy and Business

House Republicans Push for Expedited, Consolidated 2018 Spending Bill

Government Executive: Congress should move forward swiftly with an omnibus bill to fund all federal agencies for fiscal 2018, according to a group representing more than 150 Republican lawmakers, which is pushing the approach in lieu of the more deliberate regular process.

A consolidated, full-year appropriations bill would avoid the political gamesmanship that has plagued the spending process for years, the Republican Study Committee said. Under “regular order,” appropriations committees in both the House and Senate would consider 12 distinct funding bills, each of which would require votes by the full chambers after moving through the respective panels. Lawmakers have consistently skirted that process, however, instead relying on short-term stopgap measures to bide time as they negotiate 11th hour deals. Congress last year passed a full-year spending bill in May, just five months before the end of fiscal 2017.

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