If Congress regularly met its own deadlines, then October—the first month of the fiscal year—would also be the first month when federal agencies could implement their new and improved budgets. Unfortunately, the modern Congress regularly fails to pass an omnibus spending package for the next fiscal year, which bundles several appropriations bills for different parts of the federal government into one whole-of-government budget, by the end of the previous fiscal year. This autumn is no different.
In the final hours of September, as we’ve written about for our newsletter, Congress passed a continuing resolution to avoid a government shut-down. The continuing resolution will maintain government spending at current levels through December 16, 2022. As it is an election year, Congress is spending the last six weeks before the midterms largely in recess, to allow for political campaigning. When Congress returns in a lame-duck session after the midterms, they’ll be returning in earnest (hopefully) to the work of drafting, reconciling, and passing an omnibus spending bill that provides much-needed funding increases for federal agencies to tackle urgent priorities.
This October, we’ve set out to raise awareness of the sweeping significance of this appropriations process for every issue area that matters to progressives, from healthcare to consumer protection to environmental justice to workplace safety. Every weekday in October, we’re tweeting about a different federal agency whose budget is currently up for negotiation, with real consequences for the agencies’ capacity to work in the public interest and meet its mandates. We’re focusing particularly on agencies that have been systematically underfunded for years to decades, in large part because conservatives know that robust funding for these agencies could upset the disbalance of power they favor between entrenched corporate interests and the public.
Below, you’ll find a round-up of our daily Omnibus Awareness Month tweets, as well as links to our past work on these federal agencies’ capacity and importance:
Day 1 (October 3): the National Labor Relations Board
- Our Twitter thread is here
- For more from us on the National Labor Relations Board, read “President Biden’s Best Agency is Starved for Cash”
- RDP’s NLRB Factsheet can be found here
Day 2 (October 4): the Department of the Interior
- Our Twitter thread is here
- For more from us on the Interior Department, read the “Department of the Interior” chapter of our climate-focused Corporate Crackdown Project report (starts on page 25)
Day 3 (October 5): the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division
- Our Twitter thread is here
- For more from us on the Justice Department’s environmental litigators, read the “Department of Justice” chapter of our climate-focused Corporate Crackdown Project report (starts on page 40)
- See also “Where the Government’s Environmental Lawyers Stand” and “To Take Down Corporate Polluters, the DOJ’s Environmental Enforcer Needs More Capacity”
- RDP’s DOJ ENRD Factsheet can be found here
Day 4 (October 6): the Department of Housing and Development
- Our Twitter thread is here
- For more from us on HUD, read “Sabotaged HUD Must Rebuild to Fix The Housing Crisis” and “Pat Toomey Blockades Biden’s Housing Nominees Amid Historic Rent Hikes”
- RDP’s HUD Factsheet can be found here
Day 5 (October 7): the Food and Drug Administration
- Our Twitter thread is here
- For more from us on the FDA, read “The Decades-Long Food Failure at the FDA”
Day 6 (October 10): Indigenous Peoples’ Day
- Our Twitter thread on the importance of federal appropriations for tribal interests is here
- For more on Native policy and politics, follow Rob Capriccioso’s “Indigenous Wire”
Day 7 (October 11): the Securities and Exchange Commission
- Our Twitter thread is here
- For more from us on the SEC, read “Climate Finance Capacity Project: Securities and Exchange Commission” and “Enforcement: The Untapped Resource”
- RDP’s SEC Factsheet can be found here
Day 8 (October 12): the Federal Trade Commission
- Our Twitter thread is here
- For more from us on the FTC, read “Hobbled FTC Lacks Budget To Combat Corporate Buying Spree” and “Putting Biden’s Antitrust Budget Increases In Context“
- RDP’s FTC Factsheet can be found here
Day 9 (October 13): the Occupational Safety and Health Administration
- Our Twitter thread is here
- For more from us on OSHA, read “Biden’s Budget Must Strengthen OSHA” and “Democrats Need to Fight for a Government That Works”
- RDP’s OSHA Factsheet can be found here
Day 10 (October 14): the Department of Agriculture
- Our Twitter thread is here
- For more from us on USDA, read our Climate Capacity Crisis report and the “Department of Agriculture” chapter of our climate-focused Corporate Crackdown Project Report (starts on page 30)
Day 11 (October 17): the Commodity Futures Trading Commission
- Our Twitter thread is here
- For more from us on the CFTC, read the “Climate Finance Capacity Project: Commodity Futures Trading Commission“
- RDP’s CFTC Factsheet can be found here
Day 12 (October 18): the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
- Our Twitter thread is here
- For more from us on FERC, read “FERC Nominee Willie Phillips Has a Pro–Corporate Utility Record“
Day 13 (October 19): the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division
- Our Twitter thread is here
- For more from us on DOJ Antitrust, read “Making The Antitrust Division Competitive: A Look At Capacity As Biden Revitalizes Enforcement“
- RDP’s DOJ Antitrust Factsheet can be found here
Day 14 (October 20): the Federal Maritime Commission
- Our Twitter thread is here
- For more from us on the FMC, read “Rogue Regulator: Biden Cedes Chance to Enlist FMC in Inflation-Fighting Agenda“
Day 15 (October 21): the Environmental Protection Agency
- Our Twitter thread is here
- For more from us on the EPA, read our Climate Capacity Crisis report, the “Environmental Protection Agency” chapter of our climate-focused Corporate Crackdown report (starts on page 8) and “Re-Fund the EPA“
- RDP’s EPA Factsheet can be found here
Day 16 (October 24): Veterans Affairs
- Our Twitter thread is here
Day 17 (October 25): the Department of Energy
- Our Twitter thread is here
- For more from us on the DOE, read “The Department of Energy Needs More Capacity To Help Prevent A Dim Future” and “Climate Capacity Crisis: Attrition at Climate Agencies and Immediate Steps to Address It”
Day 18 (October 26): the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission
- Our Twitter thread is here
Day 19 (October 27): the Defense Department
- Our Twitter thread is here
- For more from us on the DoD, read “the Department of Defense” chapter of our climate-focused Corporate Crackdown report (starts on page 82)
Day 20 (October 28): the Office of Personnel Management
- Our Twitter thread is here
- For more from us on the OPM, read “Uncle Sam’s HR Department Needs Help“
- RDP’s OPM Factsheet can be found here
