Jack Fitzpatrick

FILE - People walk outside the U.S Capitol building in Washington, June 9, 2022. The biggest investment ever in the U.S. to fight climate change. A hard-fought cap on out-of-pocket prescription drug costs for seniors in the Medicare program. A new corporate minimum tax to ensure big businesses pay their share. And billions leftover to pay down federal deficits. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

Congress recesses with its federal budget still under construction

The House and Senate have a lot more to do for any chance of a budget by September 30. For one thing, the two chambers are $100 billion apart. This as…

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Senate Staffer Stabbed

At least the congressional budget hearings are following regular order

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Congress Budget

Earmarks returned big time to grease the latest budget negotiations

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FILE - A sign is displayed outside the Internal Revenue Service building May 4, 2021, in Washington.  On Friday, Aug. 19, 2022, The Associated Press reported on stories circulating online incorrectly claiming an online job ad shows that all new employees that the IRS intends to hire after a funding boost in the Inflation Reduction Act will be required to carry a firearm and use deadly force if necessary.  (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

There’s no 2023 budget, but lots of new money is flowing into at least some federal agencies

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(AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)FILE - In this June 12, 2019, file photo, clouds roll over the U.S. Capitol dome as dusk approaches in Washington. The committee charged with helping Republicans wrest control of the House next year raised $45.4 million over the last three months, a record quarterly haul during a year without a national election. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

What the ones who actually have a say in next year’s budget are saying

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How Congress plans to fill in the budget framework for 2022 appropriations

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Congress hints, Postal Service reform might be a real possibility this year

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In some ways you have to pity Congress, trying to spend trillions it doesn’t have

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(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)FILE - In this March 30, 2019, file photo the Dome of the U.S. Capitol Building is visible as cherry blossom trees bloom on the West Lawn in Washington. Washington health officials recommended on Wednesday, March 11, 2020, that all “non-essential mass gatherings, including conferences and conventions,” be postponed or canceled through the end of March, a move that could imperil the popular Cherry Blossom Festival. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

The burners are lit, but the budget debates on Capitol Hill are just warming up

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(AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)FILE - This April 2, 2021, file photo shows bridges spanning the Allegheny River in downtown Pittsburgh. Republicans in Congress are making the politically brazen bet that it’s more advantageous to oppose President Joe Biden’s ambitious rebuild America agenda than to lend support for the costly $2.3 trillion undertaking for roads, bridges and other infrastructure investments. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)

That proposed infrastructure bill has a little something for everybody, including your agency

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(AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)FILE - This July 16, 2019, file photo shows the Capitol Dome in Washington.  The U.S. government's budget deficit hit $735.7 billion through the first four months of the budget year, an all-time high for the period, as a pandemic-induced recession cut into tax revenues while spending on COVID relief measures sent outlays soaring. The Treasury Department reported Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2021,  that the deficit so far for the budget year that began Oct. 1 is 89% higher than the $389.2 billion deficit run up in the same period a year ago.  (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

After a decade-long hiatus, earmarks appear to be headed back to the Congressional appropriations process

Both parties in the House have agreed to participate in the new earmarks process that proponents say include some safeguards to prevent abuses.

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Will Congress ever return to the normal budget process? Whatever that is

Once they’re past the extra spending bill that includes pandemic relief, Congress could start to regard the regular old budget – you know, the stuff that…

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(AP Photo/J. Scott ApplewhiteFILE - In this Aug. 3, 2020, file photo dark clouds and heavy rain sweep over the U.S. Capitol in Washington. At least a government shutdown is off the table. But as lawmakers straggle back to Washington for an abbreviated pre-election session, hopes are fading for a pandemic relief bill, or much else. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Congress to separate continuing resolution talks with new coronavirus relief

The curtain opens on a Congress deeply divided, now the question is whether they’ll pass a budget for the year starting October 1.

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