Last week the House passed the Ryan Budget in a vote of 219-205; 12 Republicans voted against, and no Democrats supported the measure. Democrats also brought their own version of a House budget to a vote, but it was defeated in a vote of 163-261 with 31 Democrats voting against it and no Republicans voting for it.
House and Senate Appropriations Committees are moving forward with mark-ups of the 12 appropriations bills. The House Commerce-Justice-Science subcommittee is expected to mark up their bill on May 8th and the Military Construction-VA bill is expected to be the first bill to be the first to be marked up in the Senate around May 22nd. The Agriculture Appropriations Bill, which funds WIC, will likely be one of the next bills to follow.
Last week HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius submitted her resignation letter. President Obama has nominated the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Sylvia Matthews Burwell to take her place. Burwell has a reputation of working positively with Congress, and a relatively smooth nomination process is expected. That does not, however, mean that Republicans will not use the nomination process as an opportunity to highlight their disapproval of the Affordable Care Act.