Appropriations
We are now operating the government on a Continuing Resolution (CR) that will take us seven months into FY17. Unlike a simple date extension CR’s of late, this CR ran 70-plus pages with numerous “anomalies.” The CR passed the House 326-96; passed the Senate 92-7.

Supplemental
Part of the reason the CR passed with relative ease is the knowledge that a significant supplemental appropriation will come forward early in 2017 – it could be as big as $10B before the dust settles.

The Budget
The FY18 budget, typically due from the President to Congress the first Monday of February, likely won’t get to Congress before April. Agency inputs to the FY18 budget have been complete for some time, albeit without the final touches of a new administration.

National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA)
Passed the Senate with ease and moved to President Obama’s desk this week. Of particular note, the bill elevates US Cyber Command to Combatant Commander status, making it the 13th Major Combatant Command in the Unified Command Plan. Additionally, substantial acquisition reforms, too many to detail here, represent some of the most significant legislative policy prescriptions for DoD in decades.

Export-Import Bank
Contrary to the media headlines of ExIm being a corporate welfare program, several small-to-medium-sized businesses indicate that ExIm affords their international customers access to funding that is not always available overseas. The CR mentioned above failed to include a provision that would restore the Export-Import Bank’s financing authority.

Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) led the fight to include coal workers’ benefits in the upcoming CR.

Senate Majority Leader McConnell will have a full plate coming up early in the next Congress.

The 115th Congress will convene on January 3, 2017. Print your Congressional calendar below to keep track of important dates!