WASHINGTON — There is no firm timetable for release of the Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management’s detailed budget request for fiscal 2018, the office’s acting head told Weapons Complex Morning Briefing Tuesday.
The Office of Environmental Management (EM), for which the Donald Trump administration has proposed a roughly $6.5-billion budget for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1, is the only part of the Energy Department that did not produce a final budget justification document in time for the administration’s unveiling Tuesday of its first-ever federal budget request.
“”We’ve been working with OMB [the White House Office of Management and Budget] on finalization” of the justification, Susan Cange, DOE’s acting assistant administrator for environmental management, told Weapons Complex Morning Briefing after testifying before a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Pressed regarding the reasons for the delay, Cange said EM was “just trying to address last-minute questions and working with OMB.”
Traditionally, an agency’s budget justification includes a granular breakdown of planned spending and detailed discussions about major programs. New administrations often use their first budget requests to break news of planned new starts or program cancellations.
In the meantime, DOE’s budget-in-brief included a top-level look at proposed EM spending for 2018.
