The fight was long and ugly, and there were no clear-cut winners. But Congress last week finally passed a budget for fiscal year 2011.
Included in the budget deal was a record $38 billion in spending cuts, ushering in what is likely to be a new era of austerity for federal regulators and programs. The cuts were spread widely among agencies and programs, though a select few escaped the ax. Among them: the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC); the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC); and Article III courts, all of which won modest budget increases. The Department of Justice, the Legal Services Corp. and the Environmental Protection Agency were not so fortunate and face painful cuts.
