Legislative Clock Ticking on International Affairs Budget
With the legislative clock ticking and Defense Secretary Gates warning Congress that it needs to provide supplemental war funds soon for Afghanistan and Iraq, Congress is poised to act on the Administration’s FY 10 supplemental requests. Sources on the Hill indicate that the Senate Appropriations Committee is likely Thursday afternoon to markup a measure that will combine the pending $37.5 billion request for the war and the $2.8 billion request for Haiti reconstruction. Of this total, the Committee mark is expected to include $6.2 billion for the International Affairs Budget, roughly in line with the Administration’s request for these two areas. House leaders have indicated that that they will take up the supplemental request once it is passed by the Senate – and before the Memorial Day recess.
