May 30, 2018 | Other Spending
Appropriations Watch: FY 2019
Congress began appropriations work for FY 2019 in April. The enactment of the 2018 Bipartisan Budget Act increased defense and non-defense...
Blog
Welcome to our blog – The Bottom Line, where you’ll find up-to-date commentary and analysis on the most important news in the fiscal world. Below is a list of our blog posts.
May 24, 2018 | Budgets & Projections
CBO Releases Estimate of the President's Budget
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its estimate of the President's 2019 budget today. The estimates show debt would continue to rise...
May 24, 2018 | Budget Process
WATCH: Maya MacGuineas Testifies Before Budget Process Committee
Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget president Maya MacGuineas testified before the Joint Select Committee on Budget and Appropriations Process...
May 18, 2018 | Budgets & Projections
Congress Has Never Failed to Propose a Budget
There has never been a year where at least one of the two congressional Budget Committees have not proposed a budget.
Since the modern budget...
May 17, 2018 | Budgets & Projections
Paul & Sanford Introduce Penny Plans
Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) and Representative Mark Sanford (R-SC) have introduced “penny plans” that would balance the budget within a decade through a...
May 16, 2018 | Other Spending
VA Health Bill Should Be Offset
The House will vote this week on a bill that would temporarily extend then replace the Veterans Choice Program, which allows veterans facing...
May 15, 2018 | Health Care
Does the Rescissions Bill Undermine Children's Health Care?
Many have criticized President Trump's $15 billion rescission package for cutting the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP). For instance, a...
It Would Take Nearly Unprecedented Economic Growth to Balance the Budget
Increased economic growth has often been cited as a solution to our fiscal problems or as a way to offset deficit-increasing legislation....
May 10, 2018 | Other Spending
Explaining the House Farm Bill
The 2014 farm bill expires on September 30, which means policymakers have less than five months to pass a new one. The House Agriculture Committee...
May 9, 2018 | Other Spending
What's in the President's Rescission Request?
Update: CBO released an estimate of the effect of the CHIP rescission on outlays and coverage. CBO estimates that the proposed rescission would not...
May 8, 2018 | Budget Process
A Conversation with CBO Director Keith Hall
The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget and our partners at the Campaign to Fix the Debt hosted a conference call conversation with Dr. Keith...
May 7, 2018 | Other Spending
Multiemployer Pensions: The Next Source of Budget-Busting Legislation?
The newly-created Joint Select Committee on Solvency of Multiemployer Plans is tasked with crafting legislation to improve the finances of the nation...
May 4, 2018 | Budgets & Projections
Mandatory Spending Makes Up the Bulk of Spending Growth
Over four-fifths of the growth in nominal spending over the next decade is driven by Social Security, federal health programs, and interest on the...
Rescissions, How Do They Work?
Recent press reports have indicated that the Trump Administration is looking to use a process known as rescission to cut spending from the recent...
May 1, 2018 | Budget Process
Judd Gregg: Fixing the unfixable — the federal budget
Judd Gregg, a former Republican senator from New Hampshire, served as chairman of the Senate Budget Committee from 2005 to 2007 and ranking...
Apr 30, 2018 | Budgets & Projections
A "Cheat Sheet" to Our Recent Work on Debt
Over the past month, we've been explaining different elements of CBO's recent budget outlook. Below is a summary of our recent work.
Decade of...
Apr 27, 2018 | Budgets & Projections
Republican Study Committee Releases FY 2019 Budget
While the House and Senate Budget Committees have yet to release a budget for FY 2019, the Republican Study Committee (RSC) has released its own...
Apr 26, 2018 | Budgets & Projections
Budget Barometer: 6 Key Debt Numbers
A good way to judge the national debt is as a share of the overall economy (or GDP).
Based on the latest figures from the Congressional Budget...
CBO Sees Major Trust Fund Exhaustions On The Horizon
The Congressional Budget Office estimates that three major trust funds will deplete their reserves within the next ten years, with a fourth...
Apr 24, 2018 | Budgets & Projections
Interest Spending is on Course to Triple
According to CBO's latest projections, the rising cost of interest on the debt is a significant driver of growing deficits and debt. In this...
