Conceding to the political reality that the incoming president will want to tweak the fiscal 2010 budget set to be unveiled next January or February, President Bush's team has ordered that nothing out of the ordinary be included in the funding blueprints being drawn up now.
Instead, the budget that will be handed off to Bush's successor to complete will be a flat-line product to include only already planned increases—or decreases—in ongoing federal programs. Normally at this stage of the year, departments would be readying initial budgets filled with new programs for the West Wing to consider. Instead, the budget writers are on cruise control, especially since about 80 percent of the federal budget is taken up by ongoing programs, salaries, and previously approved plans.
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