Congress, again, now in hurry to fund government

We’ve spoken often about our do-nothing Congress. It appears that lack of effort to get things done will continue into the new year. The latest short-term funding of the federal government, approved in April, is set to expire soon. Half of the agencies will see their funding dry up on January 19^th, barely three weeks from now. The other half will expire in February unless Congress takes action. But there is no urgency in Washington to get things done. In fact, our lawmakers are on holiday break. But the clock is ticking, and unless there is an agreement soon, another government shutdown is possible. We’ve seen too often our elected federal officials barely squeaking by with last-minute plans to fund the government, their only real job responsibility. And here we go again. It is likely too late to fix this whole mess anytime soon, but they should begin the process. Because Congress has been so reliant on stopgap spending bills and continuing resolutions to reach agreement on keeping the lights on in the nation’s capital, they haven’t taken the time to figure out what programs actually deserve funding, and where savings can be found. Let’s hope when Congress reconvenes in the new year, someone shows some leadership and makes it a priority to go through the federal budget line by line before determining how much money federal agencies should receive.  We can’t afford to just keep writing big checks and hoping that somehow the money is being well spent.