By Robert Romano The 2018 fiscal year will end on Sept. 30 but Congress is no closer to achieving key Trump administration priorities including fully funding the southern border wall, something President Donald Trump has been demanding since 2017 and campaigned on extensively in 2016. So far, both the House and the Senate have passed appropriations bills for Defense, Energy & Water, Interior, Agriculture, Financial Services, Transportation and Housing and Urban Development, Legislative Branch and Military/Veterans. But so far, no wall. Of those, Energy & Water, Legislative Branch and Military/Veterans have been consolidated into a single bill, H.R. 5895, which is now in conference between the House and Senate. And Interior, Agriculture, Financial Services and Transportation and Housing and Urban Development have been consolidated into H.R. 6147. Everything else, including Commerce/Justice/Science, Homeland Security (which includes the wall), Labor/HHS/Education and State/Foreign Operations that have not already passed both chambers are likely to be wrapped up in a continuing resolution at the end of this month. On one hand, that can be a good thing — or at least a not bad thing —insofar as it gives Congress a little bit more of an opportunity to get those things right. For example, the Labor-HHS…
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