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Debt Ceiling Deal Squeezes Non-Defense Appropriations, Even With Agreed-Upon Adjustments
Understanding the House and Senate funding bills relative to the agreement will be important in the months ahead.
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Policy Basics
The budget process includes the President's budget proposal, Congress’s “budget resolution,” the “reconciliation” process to change tax or entitlement laws, and deficit-control measures such as spending caps, pay-as-you-go requirements, and sequestration.
We monitor the budget process and work to prevent harmful changes to it, such as requirements to balance the budget every year or arbitrary limits on total or low-income spending.
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Price’s Budget Process Changes Would Harm Key Programs, Favor Tax Breaks
Two key themes stand out: the harsh treatment of social and other programs versus the lenient treatment of tax breaks, and the risks posed by Chairman Price’s proposed entitlement cap to the...
Five Key Points About Budget “Reconciliation”
Republican leaders indicate they’ll likely use a special legislative procedure called “reconciliation” to try to repeal the Affordable Care Act, and probably also to enact tax cuts and perhaps...
Proposal on “Unauthorized” Spending Would Do More Harm Than Good
House Republican Conference Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers and Americans for Prosperity President Tim Phillips recently denounced Congress for “unauthorized spending.” But, in their September 1...
Proposals to Address “Unauthorized Appropriations” Would Likely Do More Harm Than Good
Republican members of the House of Representatives are offering various proposals targeting “unauthorized” appropriations to impose automatic cuts in such programs and more strictly enforce House...
Making Budget Enforcement More Effective
Mr. Chairman, Mr. Van Hollen, members of the Committee, I am always happy to come home to the House Budget Committee. My prepared testimony is brief. With your permission, I would like that...
Zika Outbreak Meets Criteria for Emergency Funding
By virtue of its health threat and rapid spread, the Zika outbreak meets the criteria for appropriating emergency funds as allowed by the Budget Control Act (BCA). The President and Senate favor...
Senate Proposal for Balanced Budget Amendment Would Require Extreme Budget Cuts
The proposal would compel policymakers to cut all programs by an average of more than one-fourth when it takes...
GAO Agrees: Current Accounting Method Beats Fair Value Approach
“The Current Method To Estimate Credit Subsidy Costs Is More Appropriate for Budget Estimates Than A Fair Value Approach.” The title of today's report by the Government Accountability Office...
Budget Basics, Updated
With Congress beginning consideration of the 2017 budget in coming weeks, we’ve updated several backgrounders on budget terms and procedures:
Introduction to the Federal Budget...
Federal Spending and the Debt Limit
Chairman Duffy, Ranking Member Green, and other members of the subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to testify at today’s hearing. In my testimony I want to make two broad points. The...