Budget and Appropriations

A year-long fight that will always keep reporters employed

Ben Weyl
September 11, 2017
National Press Foundation
Budget Breakdown
Discretionary Spending
The Presidents Budget
Produced by the White House Office of Management and Budget
OMB Director: Mick Mulvaney

A wish-list laying out the administrations agenda

More defense spending, big domestic cuts

Congress: Dead on arrival (Power of the purse!)

Congressional Budgets
A non-binding resolution not a bill that is signed by the president

Passed by a simple majority in Senate and House

A partisan messaging document, or statement of principles

Provides a discretionary spending total for the years appropriations

Allows for powerful tool of budget reconciliation

Budget Reconciliation
Used to execute the budget resolutions directives.

A bill with privileged status in the Senate: It cannot be filibustered.

Must abide by certain parliamentary rules

Must have some effect on tax or spending levels.
If the bill increases the deficit after 10 years, provisions sunset.

Past examples: 2001 and 2003 Bush tax cuts, 2010 Obamacare
Appropriations
Money is divided among 12 subcommittees
Half goes to Defense. The biggest domestic amount: Labor-HHS-Education

Fights over funding levels

Fights over policy riders

Usually a partisan exercise in the House

Often bipartisan in the Senate
Whats Next
Appropriations to fund the government had been due Sept. 30.
Congress passed a continuing resolution that lasts until Dec. 8.

Debt ceiling deadline pushed to Dec. 8 by Congress.

But actually could be well into 2018, because of Treasurys extraordinary
measures.

House and Senate budgets

Republicans plan to cut taxes using budget reconciliation.
Resources
White House Budget: https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget
Congressional Budget Office: www.cbo.gov
Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget: http://crfb.org
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: www.cbpp.org
Center for American Progress: https://www.americanprogress.org
Heritage Foundation: http://www.heritage.org
Bipartisan Policy Center: www.bipartisanpolicy.org
Tax Policy Center: http://www.taxpolicycenter.org