WHITE HOUSE, CONGRESS AGREE ON SIX-MONTH CR FOR FY2013

A Continuing Resolution will fund the federal government through the first six months of Fiscal Year 2013 thanks to an agreement reached between Congressional leaders and the White House yesterday, but it’s not clear whether the stopgap funding measure will allow any exceptions for Department of Energy or National Nuclear Security Administration accounts. Pushing debate on critical funding issues beyond the November elections, the deal struck by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and President Obama provides a top-line funding level of $1.047 trillion, largely matching Fiscal Year 2012 spending levels. But while stability will suffice for some portions of DOE and NNSA, other areas, like the NNSA’s weapons program, would be significantly impacted if it was constrained to FY2012 funding levels. In part to pay for big increases in spending on the B61 life extension program, other refurbishment work, and the acceleration of construction on the Uranium Processing Facility, the Administration requested $7.6 billion for the program, which was short of previous funding projections but still $344 more than FY2012 funding for the program. Requested funding for the NNSA’s nonproliferation work also increased by $155 million to $2.5 billion in FY2013. House and Senate appropriators matched the Administration’s $7.6 billion request but provided different funding levels for nonproliferation, but only the House has passed its version of the bill.