Why Didn't The Democrats Pass A Budget When They Had The Chance?
April 8, 2011 5:49 PM Subscribe
Budget Battle Question: someone on Facebook made the argument that the Democrats should have passed the budget during the last session, when they still held the majority in both houses. Is there some procedural or other technical reason why they did not or could not have done so?
Best answer: There is actually a legal framework for the budget process. This wasn't the case before the 20th century.
But in a practical sense, any Congress can pre-empt any prior act of Congress, so even if they had passed a budget last year, the GOP House could still have started trying to amend the budget that was passed and cause a fight regardless. This is essentially what happened in Wisconsin with the Governor's "budget repair bill", intended to make changes to spending for the current fiscal biennal budget that ends June 30, i.e. for the last 3-4 months of the two-year budget period.
Budget Calendar
The following timetable highlights the scheduled dates for significant budget events during the year.
Between the 1st Monday
in January and the 1st
Monday in February ..... President transmits the budget.
Six weeks later .................. Congressional committees report budget estimates to Budget Committees.
April 15 .............................. Action to be completed on congressional budget resolution.
May 15 ............................... House consideration of annual appropriations bills may begin.
June 15 .............................. Action to be completed on reconciliation.
June 30 .............................. Action on appropriations to be completed by House.
July 15 ............................... President transmits Mid-Session Review of the budget.
October 1 ............................ Fiscal year begins.
15 days after the end of a
session of Congress ........ OMB issues final sequestration report, and the President issues a sequestration order, if necessary.
posted by dhartung at 6:11 PM on April 8, 2011 [5 favorites]
But in a practical sense, any Congress can pre-empt any prior act of Congress, so even if they had passed a budget last year, the GOP House could still have started trying to amend the budget that was passed and cause a fight regardless. This is essentially what happened in Wisconsin with the Governor's "budget repair bill", intended to make changes to spending for the current fiscal biennal budget that ends June 30, i.e. for the last 3-4 months of the two-year budget period.
Budget Calendar
The following timetable highlights the scheduled dates for significant budget events during the year.
Between the 1st Monday
in January and the 1st
Monday in February ..... President transmits the budget.
Six weeks later .................. Congressional committees report budget estimates to Budget Committees.
April 15 .............................. Action to be completed on congressional budget resolution.
May 15 ............................... House consideration of annual appropriations bills may begin.
June 15 .............................. Action to be completed on reconciliation.
June 30 .............................. Action on appropriations to be completed by House.
July 15 ............................... President transmits Mid-Session Review of the budget.
October 1 ............................ Fiscal year begins.
15 days after the end of a
session of Congress ........ OMB issues final sequestration report, and the President issues a sequestration order, if necessary.
posted by dhartung at 6:11 PM on April 8, 2011 [5 favorites]
I was just a a talk yesterday where the theory presented was that there were many members of the caucus that simply wouldn't have wanted to make that vote right before those elections where heavy D losses were expected. Going along with that theory it probably would have been better for them in the long run if they had just passed something.
posted by xorry at 6:54 PM on April 8, 2011
posted by xorry at 6:54 PM on April 8, 2011
Response by poster: Points go to dhartung for the sort of answer I was looking for. Thanks.
posted by briank at 7:10 PM on April 8, 2011
posted by briank at 7:10 PM on April 8, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
OTOH, maybe not. I haven't figured out if the Dems didn't do stuff because the GOP would filibuster or just could filibuster. I also think that there are several different types of filibusters, not all of which involve standing up in the Capitol building and reading the phone book.
One might argue that they should have tried and, honestly, I don't know what the argument is for not trying.
posted by It's Never Lurgi at 5:59 PM on April 8, 2011