Wednesday is the day the Pentagon rolls out its budget proposal for the coming 2014 fiscal year, which will begin Oct. 1.
At least the start of the new fiscal year is one date you can count on.
The Obama Administration is delivering its budget plan about two months late, following efforts to grapple with sequestration’s self-imposed budget cuts.
But that’s nothing compared to how late Congress has been in recent years when it comes to passing defense appropriations bills. That’s the annual legislation that is the actual act that funds the U.S. military at specified levels.
“From FY 1977 to 2013 the average delay in passing a defense appropriations bill was 43 days, and in nine of those years the budget was passed on or before the start of the fiscal year,” Todd Harrison, the Pentagon budget guru at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, says in a new report. “In the past four years, however, the average delay has been 134 days.”
Keep this up for another decade or two, lawmakers – until you’re a full 365 days late – and we’ll just pretend your back on track.