Obama to Release Fiscal 2014 Budget Next Month, Defense memo Says

President Obama will release his fiscal 2014 budget request in mid-March, according to a Defense Department memo obtained by several news organizations.

The Feb. 5 memo from Defense Deputy Comptroller John Roth to financial managers at the Pentagon said Obama intends to “submit the top-level budget to the Congress in mid-March.” 

A former staffer for the Congressional Budget Office told Federal Times that a top-level budget would include the requested amount from each agency, as well as details on “functional areas” such as personnel, operations and maintenance.

Unions on Friday said Obama informed them he would request a 1 percent pay raise for federal employees in his 2014 budget.

In January, the Obama administration told Congress the budget – due on Feb. 4 – would be delayed because of the uncertainty caused by the fiscal cliff.

Patrick Lester, the director of fiscal policy at the Center for Effective Government, told Government Executive that the timing of the administration’s budget release would be a carefully calculated political decision, because anything in the president’s initial request would be incorporated as part of a final fiscal deal.