How Congress Broke the Budgeting Process
1st April 2022
That the federal budget process is broken is the worst kept “secret” in Washington. The White House and Congress know it. The think tanks know it. A 2010 study from the progressive Center for American Progress called the budget process “not a pretty picture.” The conservative Heritage Foundation said in 2005 that the process “stifles debate, prevents cooperation, and frequently breaks down.” Proposals come along every few years to fix the problem, but nothing ever gets done.
“The fundamental reason why the federal process is broken is because Congress doesn’t have a budget,” says Kurt Couchman, a senior fellow at Americans for Prosperity. “Congress doesn’t do a budget. Congress does appropriation bills, there are 12 of them. Collectively they are only 30% of spending and no revenue.”
The rest of federal spending comes from mandatory programs like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, farm subsidies, and military and civilian worker pensions. What was once 53 percent of total federal spending in fiscal year 2000 is now 70 percent in FY 2020 and likely to keep growing.