THE federal budget process is the last thing on the minds of residents of Texas as they deal with the catastrophic consequences of Hurricane Harvey. But the storm’s timing has upended Congress’s budget agenda. It would now look callous for Republicans to follow through on the $876m in cuts to the Federal Emergency Management Agency that they were planning to vote on before the storm hit. Similarly, the National Flood Insurance Programme will surely be funded sufficiently beyond September 30th 2017, when its current allotment expires. Crucially, the storm has also provided an opportunity to avoid a damaging budget crisis.
Steve Mnuchin, the Treasury Secretary, says that if Congress does not raise the debt ceiling, a limit on government borrowing, by September 29th, America will be unable to pay all its bills—an all-but-unthinkable event. Less scary, but still important, is the need to avoid a government “shutdown” after September 30th, when the budget for the federal government expires (the last shutdown was in 2013)....Continue reading
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