This morning the Senate Rules Committee marked up the Lobby Reform Bill, aiming to make the legislative process more transparent. This afternoon there is a hearing on the same subject. A number of amendments were offered during the markup from Senators including Dodd (D-CT), Santorum (R-PA), Feinstein (D-CA), Durbin (D-IL), Inouye (D-HI), and Nelson (D-NE).

As CongressDaily reports, the legislation "leaves the one-year lobbying moratorium in place, revokes floor privileges of former senators who are now lobbyists and modifies gift rules to require senators to disclose within 15 days the acceptance of a meal or drink. On travel, the bill requires the Ethics Committee to conduct pre-clearance and post-trip reviews of privately funded member travel. It also would require disclosure for senators or staff who accepted corporate jet travel for official or campaign purposes."

The White House submitted a $92.2 billion FY2006 supplemental spending request yesterday, which includes $72.4 billion for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and intelligence activities, and $19.8 billion for Gulf Coast rebuilding costs. The Pentagon, which currently spends about $6.8 billion per month, will receive $65.3 billion to get through the current fiscal year.

The requests put the total war cost at $115.3 billion for this year alone, as the budget submitted by the president last week requested only $50 billion for all of next year. While the measure will most likely be approved, it does face skepticism from Congressmen who are up for reelection this year and/or wary of the amount of money already spent on this war. Rep. David Obey (D-WI) stated:

"President Bush declared 'mission accomplished' on May 1, 2003. Hundreds of billions of dollars later, the administration continues to hide the war's full costs with piecemeal requests so that they don't have to take responsibility for its impact on the budget and can continue down a fiscally reckless path."

For a comprehensive table prepared by Obey's staff of Department of Defense funding for Iraq and Afghanistan from FY01 - FY07, click here.

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) introduced a bill yesterday -- called the "Pork Barrel Reduction Act" -- meant to crack down on the use of earmarks in appropriation bills and conference reports. The bill would allow senators to oppose earmarks by raising a point of order. Senate rules require 60 votes to waive a point of order, and if one is waived the earmark would stay in the bill or conference report. The bill is being co-sponsored by Sens. Russ Feingold (D-WI) and Evan Bayh (D-IN), and it would also:

• require conference reports to be filed and available publicly for at least 48 hours before being considered on the Senate floor;
  
• require disclosure of earmarks, including the identity of the lawmaker seeking the earmark and the earmark's "essential government purpose;"
  
• require recipients of earmark funding to disclose the amount of money they spent on registered lobbyists to obtain the earmark;
  
• prohibit federal agencies from spending money on items and earmarks that are included only in conference reports; and
  
• strengthen Senate rules against the inclusion in conference reports of matters not considered by either the House or Senate. Current Senate rules allow a point of order against reports with new matter but many items get through when they are attached to "must pass" bills that can overcome the point of order.

The budget reconciliation bill passed by the House on February 1 was apparently different from the bill that was sent to President Bush for his signature. The discrepancy between the bills involves a provision that was intended to allow Medicare beneficiaries to purchase home-oxygen devices as opposed to paying endless rental fees. However, a clerical error made during the enrollment of the bill changed the policy to apply to practically all medical equipment. House and Senate aides are pointing fingers at each other for this change.

The GOP leadership is hoping to quickly change the language by moving the bill though both chambers under unanimous-consent agreements. Some Congressional Democrats, however, frustrated with the specifics of the bill (it cuts $40 billion from entitlement programs over five years) as well as with their sometimes-tense relationship with the majority, are wary of cooperating quietly. It is unclear right now whether voting will take place on the entire bill, or on a narrow part of the measure.

The Hill: Small Typo, Big Headache

Our initial analysis of the president's budget release is now available. This is just preliminary and there are many more aspects of the budget to comment on. Check back here often for additional updates and information about what's in the FY 2007 budget proposal.

The White House has announce it will include an outline of approximately $140 billion in FY 2006 supplemental spending it is expected to request this year when it unveils its FY 2007 budget on Monday. The spending, which would go primarily to funding the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (86%), will also include additional funds for relief efforts along the Gulf Coast.

The president's budget will show $70 billion in war funds to be spent in the current fiscal year that the administration hopes Congress will act on quickly. That would bring the total war spending in FY 2006 to around $120 billion. An additional $50 billion will be included in spending projections for FY 2007, which begins on October 1.

As we have said before, this administration's continued use of supplemental and emergency designations for war funding is very bad process. Such requests hurt the oversight role of Congress by bypassing the congressional hearing and markup process, thus reducing transparency.

The requests, since they are not included in regular budget proposals and cost estimates, have serious implications for the president's attempts to reduce the deficit. Essentially, the president is saying he will cut the deficit in half, but only counting part of the government, not the entire picture.

NY Times: $120 Billion More Is Sought For Military in War Zones