Funding the Government in 2014

Congress is also working on legislation to fund the government. The current funding expires on January 15, so we have a relatively short timeline. The budget deal that passed in December set the numbers for this spending bill—the legislation we’re working on now determines how that money is allocated among federal agencies.

Normally, funding decisions are made through appropriations bills. We consider them one at a time for each major issue area—for example, defense, transportation, or energy. When we consider all of our spending at once like this, we call it an omnibus bill. The budget deal allows for over $1 trillion in spending for this omnibus.

As you can imagine, this will be a huge bill—distributing $1 trillion among every single federal agency will be complicated. That’s one of the reasons I have been advocating so strongly for a return to passing funding bills one by one — it’s not that I support the process for the process’s sake, it’s that considering each issue separately allows us to make better decisions about how we’re using taxpayer dollars. As Members of Congress, we have a responsibility to do right by taxpayers, and regular order helps us do that.

As you know, I didn’t support the budget deal when it passed, and although I haven’t seen the omnibus bill yet, I have some concerns about it. I’ll keep you posted as more details become available.