Legislative Update: Congress Approves Compromise Budget Agreement; House, Senate Appropriations Committees to Draft Omnibus Spending Bill for FY 2014 December 2013

On December 18, 2013, the U.S. Senate approved a compromise budget agreement for fiscal year (FY) 2014 that sets the government's discretionary spending levels for the next two years. The U.S. House of Representatives had passed the budget agreement legislation on December 12. The bill will now go to President Obama for his signature, and the congressional appropriations committees will begin work on resolving differences in the House and Senate FY 2014 appropriations bills to draft an omnibus spending bill. The House bill provides $70 million for ARC, while the Senate version contains $68 million. (Both figures are higher than the Commission's FY 2013 post-sequester funding level of $64.9 million.) Once passed, the omnibus spending bill will replace the current continuing resolution, which expires on January 15, 2014.