Congress’ long and arduous appropriations process — required to fund the government for the next fiscal year — is already falling behind.
The delicate work of crafting spending bills has taken a back seat this year as Republicans put most of their energy into passing President Donald Trump’s sprawling tax and domestic policy bill.
That’s left appropriators struggling to take some of the most basic steps, including finding an agreement on topline spending levels and marking up individual funding bills all while the White House asks them to cut already approved spending.
If they can’t finish by the end of ...