What with anthrax scares shutting down congressional office buildings for purification and cleansing, and both houses tossing brickbats at each other over precautionary measures, legislators scrambled for space and time to maintain some semblance of normalcy. Some 10 government agency appropriations bills stalled and were not enacted to start the new fiscal year on October 1. So spending for these agencies was continued at last year’s levels through mid-November.
Given the emphasis on bills relating to aviation security, stimulating the economy, education, energy and so on, there was a strong belief that Congress would not be able to come to grips with the appropriations bills by the end of this session, now forecast to be around the middle of this month. The possibility of an “omnibus” bill that would lump all appropriations, and perhaps some other unfinished business, has become more of a probability.
More In Regulations and Government
