On October 19, the Senate passed, 51-49, H. Con. Res. 71, the FY2018 budget resolution, as amended. The Senate Budget Committee approved its version of the measure (S. Con. Res. 25) on October 5 (see The Source, 10/6/17) and substituted its text for the version passed by the House on October 5.
The resolution would include $3.13 trillion in mandatory and discretionary spending for FY2018. According to the committee report, the resolution would provide $557.3 billion in overall budget authority for defense spending in FY2018. This amount includes $549.1 billion in discretionary funding, which complies with the cap set by the Budget Control Act (P.L. 112-25), and $8.2 billion in mandatory funding. In addition, the measure would allocate $76.6 billion for overseas contingency operations.
Among other provisions, the measure would provide $65 billion in budget authority for the Administration of Justice, $22.1 billion for Agriculture, $90.2 billion for Education, Training, Employment, and Social Services, $546.6 billion for health programs, $492 billion for Income Security programs, $45.2 billion for International Affairs, and $176.4 billion for Veterans Benefits and Services.
The resolution instructs the Senate Finance Committee to author tax reform legislation that would increase the deficit by no more than $1.5 trillion and the Energy and Natural Resources Committee to save $1 billion over the next ten years.
