With Congress in recess for majority of August, little has changed within the budget since July.

On August 1, the Senate Appropriations Committee released a draft of their fiscal year (FY) 2014 Department of the Interior appropriations bill, which provides $30.8 billion for all DOI agencies and bureaus. The bill allocates $1.095 billion to the U.S. Geological Survey, of which $53.3 million is intended for continued satellite operations. So far the Senate has passed none of its appropriations bills, and the House has passed 4 out of twelve appropriations bills, including the one for the Department of Energy.

When Congress resumes on September 9, both chambers will be considering the FY 2014 budget. If they cannot reach agreement, either by passing appropriations bills or continuing resolutions, the government will shut down on October 1. Congress will also have to deal with raising the national debt ceiling to allow the country to borrow enough money to meet its obligations, which include paying Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare, government salaries, and payments on the national debt. The Treasury Department is predicting that the debt limit may be reached in mid-October.