Latest from CEF. As Sarah notes below, the President has sent Congress a list of possible cuts to make in the fiscal year 2017 bills currently now being written. This is different from the “skinny budget” proposal — that concerned FY18, this concerns FY17. I would put it more strongly than Sarah does below — at this point I think there is basically no chance that appropriators are going to do anything with Trump's suggestions. Check out Cole’s quote below. It would create a huge mess and use up a bunch of political capital to make such drastic cuts half way through the fiscal year. And especially after the health care bill fiasco last week left Republicans in a bit of a disarray. I think they’ll try to quickly get FY17 done with as little drama as possible so they can turn their attention to eviscerating federal discretionary programs in the FY18 bills. Which is also why, as Sarah notes, we might get that CR for FY17 after all. Jeff > Begin forwarded message: > > From: Sarah Abernathy <abernathy@cef.org> > Subject: CEF Update: 03.28.17 - Administration details $3 billion in ED cuts for 2017 > Date: March 28, 2017 at 11:38:28 AM EDT > To: CEFMembersList <CEFMembersList@americancontinentalgroup.onmicrosoft.com> > > > Tuesday, March 28, 2017 > > Dear CEF Members: > > · Administration details $3 billion of possible education cuts for 2017 – According to Politico, the Administration provided Congress a list of possible cuts to make in the fiscal year 2017 bills currently being formulated, including almost $3 billion of cuts to Department of Education programs. These are $18 billion of options for cuts to non-defense discretionary (NDD) funding for 2017 that the Administration proposed with its 2018 “skinny budget” earlier this month. > > · The attached document highlights the possible education cuts for 2017, and lists the total of cuts to other appropriations bills. The education cuts include the following: > o $1.3 billion cut from Pell Grants, which reflects the reduction in Pell Grant funding in the House and Senate Appropriations Committee-reported bills (the Senate bill rescinds $1.2 billion of previously appropriated Pell Grant funding while the House bill cuts the 2017 funding level by $1.3 billion). > o $1.2 billion cut from Supporting Effective Instruction (Title II) State Grants, which the President’s 2018 budget entirely eliminates. Note that if Congress were to make the $1.2 billion cut in 2017, then the President’s budget could not produce $2.4 billion of savings from eliminating the program in 2018. The President’s budget used that $2.4 billion of “savings” in 2018 to offset defense spending above the defense cap. > o $190 million cut by eliminating the comprehensive literacy development grants (formerly Striving Readers) in Title I. > o The remaining $248 million cut reflects programs eliminated by the Every Student Succeeds Act and whose funding is intended to be covered by the new Title IV block grant in FY 2017. > > · Appropriators seem unlikely to accept these options – In addition to the education cuts, the Administration proposes cuts to the National Institutes of Health and other programs that are high priorities for Congress, making this proposal seem like a non-starter for appropriators who want to finish the FY 2017 funding bills before the current funding expires on April 28. It’s always seemed unlikely that Congress would want to take on consideration of drastic cuts to non-defense discretionary programs half way through the fiscal year. > > House Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Subcommittee chairman Tom Cole (R-OK) said in CQ <http://www.cq.com/doc/news-5071248?0>: > > “…it's a little late in the process. We've closed out our bills… No entering administration should be negotiating the budget for the year it's in, because they don't have the people there to do it. They just got an OMB director, they don't have a lot of their staff, they don't have their people in places in the Cabinet agencies in order to make intelligent decisions and even recommendations.” > > > > · CR more likely for 2017? – We’re hearing that, as you’d expect, last week’s turmoil over health care makes it more likely that Congress will pass 2017 funding through a full-year continuing resolution that continues most programs at the 2016 funding level, rather than an omnibus bill that makes many programmatic funding changes. However, appropriators are continuing with their negotiations, and even if they resort to a continuing resolution will certainly make a number of changes to accommodate changes in authorizing programs, needs, and congressional priorities. > > - Sarah > > Sarah Abernathy, Deputy Executive Director > 1800 M Street, NW > Suite 500 South > Washington, DC 20036 > T: 202-327-8125 > abernathy@cef.org <mailto:abernathy@cef.org> > www.cef.org <http://www.cef.org/> > Twitter @edfunding > >