Rep. Ken Buck on the Federal Budget Accountability Act

May 2, 2017
By Kevin R. Kosar Rep. Ken Buck, R-Co, introduced H.R. 1999, the Federal Budget Accountability Act in April. It is a short bill — barely two… Read More

The omnibus is here! And some things to clear up about congressional budget politics.

May 2, 2017
By Joshua C. Huder Originally published at the Government Affairs Institute at Georgetown University House and Senate leaders will push through an omnibus spending package this week. The bill… Read More

GovTrack’s Written Testimony to the House of Representatives on Public Access to Legislative Information

May 2, 2017
This week, the House’s Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee will hold a hearing. In anticipation, Joshua Tauberer has published online the testimony he submitted. Tauberer, who founded GovTrack.US… Read More

How Many Types of Appropriations Are There?

April 11, 2017
Illustration credit: Anthony McCann, “Forms of Appropriation: A Typology,” Public Budgeting and Finance , June 2016. According to Anthony McCann, there are 13 types. This is a big deal… Read More

House Votes to Increase Appropriations for Permanent Committees

March 19, 2017
Phillip Lohaus, Daniel Schuman and Mandy Smithberger report: Today [March 8, 2017] the Committee on House Administration took a small but important step to restore the House of Representatives… Read More

Congress and Fiscal Control

March 17, 2017
The way it is supposed to work, in short. Source: Congressional Research Service At the Library of Law & Liberty, Kevin R. Kosar writes: “Indubitably, our nation’s finances are… Read More

How to Put the “Most Complete and Effectual Weapon” Back in Their Hands

March 8, 2017
From the Library of Law & Liberty: Indubitably, our nation’s finances are a mess. America has run deficits 36 of the past 40 years. The national debt… Read More

Should Congress Bring Back Pork?

February 23, 2017
The University of Chicago’s Adam Chan certainly thinks so. He writes: “Congress passed a bill banning earmarks in 2010 with a rare combination of bipartisan support and President Obama’s… Read More

Should We Have a Long-term Budget for Entitlements?

February 22, 2017
Federal law treats Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and other entitlements as “mandatory” spending programs, which means they are not subject to the annual appropriations process like the rest of… Read More

Want Your Member to Testify for Strengthening the Legislative Branch?

February 8, 2017
Then promptly let the House’s Legislative Branch Subcommittee know by this Friday. Full details are below. HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEELegislative Branch Subcommittee INSTRUCTIONS FOR MEMBERS TESTIFYING AND… Read More