In other federal fiscal news, the President’s budget outline released last week would see a stark increase in defense spending, while cutting civilian agencies by double digits.  Hardest hit would be operations such as EPA, Interior, and State, where some analysts have said a full one-third of that budget could be cut. These proposed cuts prove the long-held belief that following the headlines in The Washington Post can be a pretty good barometer for figuring out which agencies are out of favor with the current administration and, therefore, are less likely to have significant discretionary money.   Will actual cuts be that deep, though?  While the final answer is still some months away, it seems unlikely that this Administration will get all of what it seeks.  Rank and file Republican Congressional members have already commented that they want to protect programs that they believe benefit their districts.  As such, while reductions in some civilian agencies are likely, the amount of reduction is far from certain.  Also, some analysts are predicting that “cuts” will be targeted to specific functions such as those that would spend money to enforce regulations the Administration opposes.  This would leave money for acquisition and other critical operations.  While Republicans hold the White House and both chambers of Congress, margins are thin.  It will take some serious negotiating before anyone knows for sure what will happen in FY’18, other than the fact that it, too, will likely start under a CR.