Senate appropriators are moving on with markup of spending bills after talks stalled on the fiscal 2005 budget resolution. A last minute proposal to woo Senate passage of the stalled FY05 budget resolution seems likely to garner as much opposition from GOP conservatives as it does support from moderate Republicans.

It is likely that many of the fiscal 2005 spending bills will not make it to the floor in upcoming months because of the increased partisanship during election years.

Having a budget resolution is important to the GOP leadership because it will allow them to move a tax cut package through the Senate more easily. Without a budget resolution, it will be difficult to fight Democratic amendments seeking to peel off moderate GOP members.

Both the Homeland Security and the Defense Appropriations subcommittees plan on marking up their bills Wednesday and sending them to full committee Thursday.