ICYMI: Why Congress Must Not Let the Debt Limit Crisis Go to Waste
Brookings Institution’s Stuart Butler writes: “‘Must pass’ legislation to increase the debt limit has long been used as the vehicle to pass other urgent or controversial bills, including changes in… Read More
Why Does the Senate So Rarely Consider a Budget Resolution?
The share of amendments to the budget resolution that are symbolic, 1993-2015. Source: Molly Reynolds, “Considering the budget resolution in the Senate: Challenges and consequences of reform,” May 2017. By… Read More
Confused by Reconciliation? Read This.
Molly Reynolds writes at the FixGov blog: “With Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) planning to try to begin debate on the Republican health care bill Tuesday, lots… Read More
ICYMI: Rep. Isakson Introduces Biennial Budgeting Bill
Rep. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga, writes at the Ripon Forum: “Over the last 37 years, since 1980, Congress has passed all 12 annual appropriations bills on time only twice. Too… Read More
Congressional Pay and Benefits at a Standstill, With a Cost
David Hawkings writes at Roll Call: “This is the longest period without a congressional raise since the decade ending in 1965, and there’s little likelihood the salary will change… Read More
What’s in the FY2018 House Legislative Branch Appropriation?
On June 29, the House Appropriations Committee approved fiscal year 2018 appropriations via voice vote. The bill calls for $3.58 billion of funding for House and joint-chamber… Read More
The Congressional Budget Office: “An Excellent Skunk at the Congressional Picnic”
At the Washington Post, Philip Joyce writes: “Trump’s Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Mick Mulvaney, recently said that ‘the time of CBO has probably… Read More
ICYMI: What CBO’s Score of the Health Insurance Bills Tells Us About the Budget Process
Yuval Levin writes at National Review: “The CBO is not politically biased. But its work is beset by challenges that run much deeper than that: They are structural, and… Read More
Want a Better Budget Process? Make It More Open and Deliberative
Source: Congressional Research Service. James Wallner writes at the Washington Examiner: “The budget process should be structured so that those interested in an outcome can freely participate in deliberations… Read More
One More Bit of Good News About Congressional Capacity
Within the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2017, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) was authorized to establish senior level positions “to meet critical… Read More