Divided 112th Congress likely to struggle with budget and spending process

With the Republicans set to take the majority in the House next year, Tuesday's election left a dark cloud over the budget and appropriations process for next year, according to budget experts.

Even if the Republican-led House and the Democratic Senate both manage to pass budget proposals next year, they would have a hard time agreeing on a single blueprint.

"You would imagine it would be very difficult to reconcile if the House and Senate each are able to pass a budget resolution individually…given the pledges [House Republicans] have made for deep cuts in spending…and no increases in revenues," said Jim Horney, who was deputy Democratic staff director on the Senate Budget Committee from 2001 to 2004, and now directs federal fiscal policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

"It is hard to imagine that the Democrats would go along with a plan that has really deep cuts in a whole variety of programs and assumes that" the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts are extended for all taxpayers, Horney continued.

Bill Hoagland, who was policy advisor and top budget aide to former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., was also skeptical about next year's budget and spending cycle.

But Hoagland held out hope that common ground could be reached after the President Obama's deficit commission weighs in December 1. The commission was created by an executive order and is charged with making recommendations to Congress on how to reduce the deficit. Democratic leaders have pledged to take up the panel's recommendations, but any recommendation will need the vote of 14 out of 18 members - a hurdle that may be too high.

"If they can't get to 14 votes, but they have various areas of the budget where they felt they reached consensus, I assume the president incorporates those into the budget he submits," Hoagland said. "Then I think you increase the opportunity for putting together-one can always hope-a bipartisan budget that would allow the president to pivot a little bit on spending and would allow Republicans to claim they have changed the focus of fiscal policy, and everybody gains something in the end."

Hoagland is working on the Bipartisan Policy Center's deficit commission, which is led by former Senate Budget Committee Chairman Pete Domenici, R-N.M., and Alice Rivlin, who has led both the Office of Management and Budget and the Congressional Budget Office.

The commission is scheduled to release its recommendations on November 17.

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