Fiscal Year 2018 begins this Sunday, October 1, with federal funding levels still yet to be determined on Capitol Hill. Federal agencies are slated to operate through December 8 on a temporary funding measure, or continuing resolution (CR), that sets spending at the FY 2017 level for now. The CR gives Congress and the White House additional time to overcome some significant obstacles.

To date, the House and Senate have gone forward in the FY 2018 appropriations process with very different priorities and frameworks for funding the government. The House advanced increases in defense spending alongside cuts to the non-defense discretionary budget. Meanwhile, the Senate moved forward with a more balanced approach that would bust through spending caps established back in 2011. However, both chambers produced spending bills that have largely ignored the deep cuts to R&D proposed by President Trump in May.

Congress will need forge a bipartisan deal on a budget framework in the weeks ahead in order to determine agency funding ahead of the December 8 expiration of the CR. Such a bill will likely need to relax the 2011 spending caps for 1-2 years for both the defense and non-defense discretionary portions of the budget in order to advance.

White House Press Release on H.R. 601