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GCN Home > 08/16/04 issue

Working the hill

How agencies can find the middle ground between Congress and the White House

When it comes to money, Congress is the final arbiter. What are the ins and outs of making the case for funding once the president’s budget request goes to the Hill?

To find out, GCN asked Stanley Collender, managing director of the Washington office of Financial Dynamics Business Communications, to talk about the funding game from the Hill’s point of view.

Collender has worked on both the House and Senate budget committees. As a member of the House Budget Committee staff, he served as administrator of the task force on state and local government. For the Senate Budget Committee, he was responsible for analyzing Defense spending. Collender also is the author of The Guide to the Federal Budget series (Century Foundation Press). Staff writer Jason Miller and associate editor Richard W. Walker interviewed Collender by phone.

GCN: Once the president’s budget request goes to Congress, what are the biggest challenges overall for agencies when it comes to convincing the Hill to spend the money?

Collender: The biggest challenge is that federal agencies are constantly caught in the middle. Agencies are in a difficult position because they’re bound to support the administration’s priorities, even when those priorities may not necessarily be good for the agency involved. Doing anything other than that is basically committing political suicide and risking the administration’s wrath. You may be able to get some short-term gains by getting Congress to go along with you, but you’ll do it at the cost of closer scrutiny by the Office of Management and Budget.

It’s a very difficult position. On the one hand, you’re there to represent your programs and your constituencies. On the other hand, you’re there to represent the administration’s priorities. And they’re not always the same.

GCN: What are some of the mistakes agencies make when the budget request goes to the Hill?

Collender: Agencies are absolutely bound to support the president’s budget, but if they don’t recognize the propensities, the interests, the priorities of the appropriations subcommittee—if they don’t recognize where that subcommittee is coming from—they could easily find themselves angering both the administration and the appropriations subcommittee.