As reported in previous issues of the Washington Report, the President’s budget request for fiscal 2014, legally due to Congress by February 4, is still widely anticipated to be submitted late. The delay has been primarily attributed to the uncertainty generated by fiscal cliff negotiations, which put the budget proposal process significantly behind schedule. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB), according to some reports, just this week began the process known as “passback” – when OMB returns drafts of proposed budgets to agencies to begin a series of negotiations. Typically, this process takes place in late November. Meanwhile, budget committees in both the House and Senate are working to draft their own nonbinding fiscal 2014 budget resolutions, which legally must be adopted by April 15. The Senate is expected to approve a House-passed measure (HR 325) this week which, in addition to suspending the federal debt limit through May 18, 2013, includes a provision to temporarily withhold the pay of lawmakers in either chamber of Congress that fails to pass a budget by the April 15 deadline.

Link: HR 325