August 28, 2015
The House and Senate were in recess this week.
White House FY16 Continuing Resolution “Wish List”
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) submitted to Congress this week a list of special funding requests and a list of authorization issues in anticipation of a continuing resolution (CR) funding the government beginning October 1. The lists include, among other things, $450M in emergency funding to fight wildfires in the West, a reduction in the Department of Defense Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) account to reflect the decreasing scale of operations, an extension of the Export-Import Bank’s charter, a request for more flexibility to support disability claims processing at the Veterans Affairs Department, an authorization to provide additional resources for the construction of an over-budget VA hospital in Denver, authority for the District of Columbia to spend its local tax revenue in the early months of FY16, special acquisition authority for research and development projects at DHS, and reauthorization of the E-Verify immigration program.
A CR typically extends all prior-year spending and policy provisions, so any changes to those spending levels or policy provisions must be specifically included in the CR. However, Appropriators typically keep the number of anomalies in a CR low so as to keep pressure on lawmakers to reach a final spending agreement.
The duration of the anticipated CR is still unclear. It likely won’t extend beyond the calendar year, but whether it extends until December 18 (the last Friday before Christmas and the last day both the House and Senate are scheduled to be in session), October 29 to coincide with when the highway bill expires, or November 20 (the Friday before the Thanksgiving recess) remains to be decided.
Link to OMB List of Special Funding Requests:
https://www.vantagepointstrat.com/?p=492
Link to OMB Authorization Issues
https://www.vantagepointstrat.com/?p=493
Department of Defense Manufacturing Innovation Institute for Flexible Hybrid Electronics
The Department of Defense announced that the Obama Administration is awarding a Manufacturing Innovation Institute for Flexible Hybrid Electronics to a consortium of 162 companies, universities, and non-profits led by the FlexTech Alliance. This is part of DoD’s efforts to partner with the private sector and academia to ensure the U.S. continues to lead in the new frontiers of manufacturing. The institute is the seventh of nine such manufacturing institutes launched by the administration, and the fifth of six led by the DoD. This newest institute will bring the government, industry, and academia together to advance U.S. leadership in manufacturing flexible hybrid electronics, which describes the innovative production of electronics and sensors packaging through new techniques in electronic device handling and high precision printing on flexible, stretchable substrates. The FlexTech alliance consortium includes Apple, Lockheed Martin, Stanford, and MIT, among others. The cooperative agreement will be managed by the U.S. Air Force Research laboratory (AFRL) and will receive $75 million in DoD funding over five years matched with more than $90 million from industry, academia, and local governments. In total, the institute will receive $171 million to invest in strengthening U.S. manufacturing.
Political Updates
President Obama nominated Dr. Jay Shambaugh to be a Member of the Council of Economic Advisers. Dr. Shambaugh is currently a Professor of Economics and International Affairs at the George Washington University. The President also nominated M. Tia Johnson to be Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs at the Department of Homeland Security. Johnson is currently a Senior Adviser at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Prior to her position at ICE, she served in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps, where she was the first African American female to attain the rank of Colonel in JAG Corps history.
Rick Holgate, the Chief Information Officer (CIO) for the Justice Department’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives announced that he is leaving government service to take a post as a federal analyst with Gartner. NASA could also be looking for a new CIO as sources say Larry Sweet may be retiring at the end of the calendar year. And Damian Bednarz is leaving his post as Chief of Staff in the Office of International Affairs at the Department of Energy to join a communications and public strategy group in D.C.
Next Week
The House and Senate are in recess until September 8.