In a move that will likely draw a lot of attention and generate heated rhetoric, President Bush and OMB have instructed Federal agencies not to prepare a full budget request for FY 2010. Perhaps adhering to a precedent set by President Clinton in 2000, the Bush Administration will submit a current services baseline, meaning agencies will only submit formal budget requests once the new Administration has taken office in early 2009. The early spin is that agencies can avoid concentrating on budget proposals that will likely be ignored by the new Congress and Administration.

At first blush this seems a cynical move but characteristic of the current political climate. We should also consider the likely impact on continuity of government. The government is under fire for a string of miscues, and having muddled budgetary priorities on top of a string of continuing resolutions will certainly hinder planning and increase uncertainty about the government's priorities. A new administration will likely not yet be established to make a big impact on the 2010 budget process, and Congress could be in as much disarray as they seem to be now. Accordingly, this makes passing a 2009 budget more important at establishing the direction of the government and avoiding a "crisis environment" in 2009. Perhaps this was the plan all along.

Most importantly, this will be a test of whether the Federal Government has stronger management processes and capabilities than it did 8 years ago. In Exhibit 53s and 300s, among other things, the Executive Branch certainly has a new set of tools in which to create strong baseline information that can be hammered into a coherent budget. President Bush and OMB have been pushing a strong agenda of management, accountability and performance that may be the ultimate legacy of this adminstration. We will see if agency leadership -- in the hopes of minimizing uncertainty and chaos in a transition -- takes advantage of these management practices regardless. The vendor community would do well to assist, as they will no doubt feel the effects of continued uncertainty.