Yesterday, after a 79-18 vote, the Senate passed the long-awaited $1 trillion FY17 omnibus appropriation to fund the government through September. This passage came right before today’s deadline, avoiding a government shutdown. President Trump should sign the bill tonight without ceremony. Now fully six months into the 2017 fiscal year, funds should begin flowing through departments by early June.

Wasting no time, the House and Senate are now fully engaged in the FY18 service posture hearings – we are months behind the traditional legislative schedule for beginning the budget process. The FY18 budget still has yet to be delivered to Congress, and is now estimated to arrive by the last week in May – nearly four months late.