Misplaced nostalgia for an appropriations process that went smoothly

Surfing and Misplaced Nostalgia

On Thursday night, December 2, Congress finally reached an agreement on a FY 22 Continuing Resolution that would fund the government through February 18, 2022. Up to the last minute, there was the threat of obstruction by a group of Senators, which would have resulted in a government shutdown. Fortunately, a compromise was found—a stand-alone Senate vote on a contentious issue—and then the funding bill passed under expedited procedures.

Brinksmanship is not a new experience when federal funding bills are stuck and a CR is needed. Instead of writing about FDA during a shutdown—a topic that was germane all week—I chose to be optimistic and completed a short new column, entitled “Surfing and Misplaced Nostalgia.”
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As a life-long East-Coaster, I never learned much about surfer culture. However, I have never forgotten that culture’s best-known phrase: “you should have been here yesterday, the waves were great.”

While often used as a taunt, it always reminds me how our memories make the past seem better than it was—whether bigger waves, less cultural disharmony, more babies sleeping through the night, or a more functional Congress. Not to be too subtle about this: misplaced nostalgia is particularly acute in Washington these days.

This is certainly true when it comes to the federal appropriations process. Based on my memories of being a Senate staffer, I have often observed that Congressional appropriations staff had neatly structured 12-month jobs. The State of the Union comes in January, followed by the President’s budget request, hearings, mark-ups, floor action, and House-Senate conference. Appropriations bills are completed by October, and staff had two months to meet with their agencies and research/prepare for the next cycle.

Whatever “I think I remember,” my vision of an orderly appropriations process is rubbish. The last time all twelve appropriations bills were completed by October 1…was 1997. That is 25 years ago, literally the last century.

The notion of a smooth appropriations process--sometime in the past--is all nostalgia, very little fact. This week’s extension of the FY 22 Continuing Resolution is the 126th CR since 1998. The most dysfunctional year was FY 2001, which saw 21 CR’s. Most fiscal years involve between 3 and 8 CR’s and the average is 5 CR’s per year.

The threatened federal government shutdown, if it were to have occurred, would have been the 22nd since 1976. That’s not quite one shutdown every two years. Thankfully, most have been short, but the toll on orderly government is real, not to mention the impact on federal employees.

A 12-month appropriations process is real only to the extent that it is enshrined in the 1974 Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act. And the smooth appropriations process of most years since then…cannot be described because they not smooth.

Many times, the past seems to have been better than our current situation. That is not always so. If someone says: you should have been here in years past, the appropriations process went smoothly. Just…don’t…believe…them.

Editorial Note: The week’s Analysis and Commentary section was written by the Alliance’s Executive Director, Steven Grossman.