May 30, 2018 | Budget Process
Appropriations 101
What are appropriations?
Appropriations are annual decisions made by Congress about how the federal government spends some of its money. In general...
Papers
View our recurring reports, which summarize and analyze the most important regular federal budget releases and reports.
May 30, 2018 | Economics
Can America Sustain the Recent Economic Boost?
Key Takeaways:
The good news is that the economy is doing well; however, this is unlikely to turn into sustained growth at the same rate.
Short-...
May 24, 2018 | Budgets & Projections
CBO’s Analysis of the President’s FY 2019 Budget
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its estimate of the President’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 budget using its own assumptions to evaluate the...
May 24, 2018 | Budget Process
Maya MacGuineas's Testimony on Budget Resolution Reforms
On May 24, 2018, Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget president Maya MacGuineas testified before the Joint Select Committee on Budget and...
May 16, 2018 | Health Care
American Health Care: Health Spending and the Federal Budget
The United States spends more on health care than any other country in the world, and a large share of that spending comes from the federal...
May 10, 2018 | Budget Process
Chartbook: Playing By the (Budget) Rules
Below is a Chartbook that corresponds to the paper "Playing By the (Budget) Rules: Understanding and Preventing Budget Gimmicks"
Apr 30, 2018 | Budgets & Projections
Chartbook: America's Budget Outlook
Below is a chartbook on America's deteriorating budget outlook.
Update (5/15/18): We clarified the footnote on slide 9 to more clearly...
Apr 12, 2018 | Budget Process
Letter to Members of Congress on Statutory Budget Deadline
The statutory deadline for a budget is April 15 and no budget is in sight. Instead, members of the House of Representatives are voting on a balanced...
Apr 9, 2018 | Budgets & Projections
Analysis of CBO’s April 2018 Budget and Economic Outlook
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its ten-year budget and economic outlook today, showing that recent legislation has made an already...
Mar 29, 2018 | Budgets & Projections
Chartbook: America's Deteriorating Budget Outlook
An updated version of this chartbook is available here
Below is a chartbook on America's deteriorating budget outlook.
Mar 27, 2018 | Other Spending
Pro-Growth Infrastructure Needs Concrete Pay-Fors
Policymakers in Washington have turned their attention to infrastructure, with members of both parties putting forward their own competing proposals...
Mar 13, 2018 | Taxes
Maya MacGuineas's Testimony on Tax Extenders
On March 14, 2018, Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget president Maya MacGuineas testified before the House Ways and Means Tax Policy...
Mar 13, 2018 | Budget Process
Maya MacGuineas's Testimony on CBO Oversight: Perspectives from Outside Experts
On March 14, 2018, Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget president Maya MacGuineas testified before the House Budget Committee on "CBO Oversight...
Mar 2, 2018 | Budgets & Projections
Updating the U.S. Budget Outlook
Note (4/30/2018): This paper was published before CBO's April 2018 baseline, which provides official estimates of the fiscal situation. For the...
Feb 26, 2018 | Budget Process
Playing By the (Budget) Rules: Understanding and Preventing Budget Gimmicks
The breakdown in the federal budget process and erosion of budget discipline have led to the increasingly pervasive reliance on budget gimmicks....
Feb 23, 2018 | Budget Process
Five Ways the Budget Process Has Failed
Today is the deadline for Congressional leaders to announce the Members of Congress serving on the Joint Select Committee on Budget and...
Feb 12, 2018 | Budgets & Projections
Analysis of the President's FY 2019 Budget
The Trump Administration released its Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 budget proposal today. The budget proposes a number of tax and spending changes that it...
Feb 9, 2018 | Budgets & Projections
What We’d Like to See in President Trump’s FY 2019 Budget
The Trump Administration is slated to release its budget outlining the President’s priorities for Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 and the next decade on Monday...
Q&A: Everything You Should Know About Government Shutdowns
As we’ve learned to expect, Congress seems to be waiting until the last minute to address several important fiscal priorities. One of the most...
Feb 6, 2018 | Budget Process
Maya MacGuineas's Testimony on Continuing Resolutions, Omnibuses, and Shutdowns
On February 6, 2018, Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget president Maya MacGuineas testified before the Senate Homeland Security and...
