House and Senate leaders have decided to push final decisions about fiscal year 2017 appropriations until the 115th Congress and are expected to approve a continuing resolution to fund the government through March or April 2017. The current continuing resolution (P.L. 114-223), which was passed just before the Oct. 1 start of the fiscal year, runs through Dec. 9. Members of the 114th Congress had expected to finalize fiscal year 2017 funding during the lame duck session, but President-elect Donald J. Trump’s transition team requested a delay so that the incoming administration could be involved in appropriations decisions. Numerous members of Congress opposed the idea, preferring to pass an omnibus appropriations legislation to fund government programs through Sept. 30, 2017, and start fresh early next year with the fiscal year 2018 funding process. A continuing resolution, which would keep most programs at current funding levels, would be dangerous for the military, according to Senate Armed Services committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.). Democrats speaking against the move included Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), who called it “absolutely outrageous.” House Appropriations Committee Chairman Harold Rogers (R-Ky.) indicated that House Republican leaders thought it was “important that the new president have input on the spending plans.”