The next 120 days, from September until the end of December, create a PERFECT STORM for a variety of critical decisions by the U.S. Congress and government. It impacts all who seek to influence outcomes and to understand complex funding allocations, details in the policy process, and how to maneuver in the last days of the 117th Congress. Over 22% of the US House Members, and all their staffs, will not be in office after the end of this year. The same is true for many Senate offices and Members as well. What actions should one consider in a “lame duck” Congress after the November 8th National elections? How does one identify and influence unprecedented federal government actions and major regulatory agendas? Achieving success in this PERFECT STORM requires those that can navigate and avoid negative outcomes, with consideration for:
Advanced Appropriations over many Fiscal Years:
One of the key take-aways from recent Congressional passage of massive, multi-Trillion-dollar legislation, which spans over multiple Fiscal Years, has been a relatively new funding technique called “advanced appropriations.” The majority in both the U.S. House and Senate, have disregarded the established practice of annual appropriations bills for agency programs and have resorted to funding programs over a multi-fiscal year basis.
Several examples are as follows:
These funding appropriations provides an agency or program with huge allocations, giving tremendous authority and decision-making ability to federal officials to determining the rules for who secures the funds and how they are dispensed. For example, Long-range projections of funding within the Pentagon might include details over a five-year period. This multi- year effort creates new targeting for agency official presentations, requests over a longer period, and strategies to meet these new demands.
A new Fiscal Year begins October 1st:
This Congress ends on December 31st, 2022, and the new 118th Congress begins in January. All bills not passed by the end of this year “die.” Therefore, bills providing for the over $1.2T federal budget have pending legislation in the Congress. If not passed by October 1st, to avoid a “shutdown” of the federal government, Congress passes what is called a “continuing resolution” (CR). This CR funds the government at the rate last approved by Congress for each agency (this would be at FY2022 levels). It is possible that the political nature of the divided Congress may delay funding past October 1st. Last year, a “Consolidated Appropriations Act,” was signed into law on March 15, 2022, 165 days after the funding was to begin. These funding decisions have impacts that merit consideration in these 120 day period:
The next 120 days includes many other critical deadlines and decision-making events in government relations for impacting the U.S. Congress and Federal agencies. Some of these to consider are as follows: