The U.S. Global Leadership Coalition (USGLC) reports that “after several weeks of budgetary limbo on Capitol Hill, action is expected” this week on the FY 2011 budget. The impending budget developments include:

1. There will be no formal budget resolution this year, USGLC confirms. “Instead, the House will move a budget “deeming resolution.” A deeming, or enforcement, resolution essentially accomplishes two goals: it both sets an overall discretionary spending cap for all appropriations bills, and endorses the goals of the president’s budget requests while pushing back an actual vote on those requests until after the November midterm election (see this article in The Hill for more details). USGLC notes that this budget deeming resolution could provide less than the President requested in his overall budget for FY 2011. This fact, coupled with House Appropriations Committee Chair Dave Obey’s announcement last week that all FY 2011 appropriations bills will be funded below the President’s requests, could place “significant pressure” on the International Affairs Budget, USGLC concludes.
2. “Passage of the budget deeming resolution will trigger the all-important 302(b) appropriation allocations for the 12 individual appropriations bills,” USGLC says. The House State and Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee will mark up its FY 2011 spending bill this Wednesday, June 30, at 4:00 p.m. The Senate State-Foreign Ops subcommittee is not expected to act on its own spending bill until after the July 4th recess.
3. Once the individual appropriations bills have been marked up, they are not expected to see floor action before October 1. Rather, as USGLC notes, a continuing resolution is likely to be passed to fund the U.S. government at FY 2010 levels until after the November midterm elections, at which time Congress will most likely pass an omnibus appropriations bill.