Jack Fitzpatrick

National Weather Service financial system rollout less predictable than the weather

Last year, the Commerce Department rolled out a new financial system meant to improve financial management. Things have not gone as planned.

Workforce

Congress recesses with its federal budget still under construction

Congress

At least the congressional budget hearings are following regular order

Congress

Earmarks returned big time to grease the latest budget negotiations

Congress

FILE - The U.S. Capitol dome in Washington, Aug. 12, 2022. The Democratic-led House passed a short-term spending bill on Friday that finances the federal government through mid-December and provides another infusion of military and economic aid to Ukraine as lawmakers acted to avert a partial government shutdown set to begin after midnight. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

Congress steps off the government shutdown cliff. So now what?

Congress

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

Congress

(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

Budget

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

Congress

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

Congress

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

Congress

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

Congress

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

We now know what’s going to be occupying Congress for the next few weeks or months. For a look inside that infrastructure bill and a few other matters,…

Congress

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.

Congress

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

Congress

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 keeps your agency going.