Mandatory Programs News Today

Congress passed two mammoth appropriations bills providing for about $1.8 trillion in spending, spanning the entire federal government’s discretionary budget.

America’s biggest fiscal challenge lies in the unchecked growth of federal health care and old-age entitlement programs.

Last month, Congress passed a sweeping budget deal that increased the 2011 Budget Control Act’s discretionary spending caps by $296 billion for fiscal years (FYs) 2018 and 2019.[REF] Now, nearly six months into FY 2018, Congress is poised to debate a $1.3 trillion spending bill that would provide funding to the federal government for the rest of the year at those levels.

Budget season is officially upon us.

For about two decades, Congress has not consistently produced budgets or completed the annual spending process on time. Even though fiscal year (FY) 2019 began on October 1, the federal government is currently operating without congressional passage of a FY 2019 budget resolution, and many agencies are operating under a “continuing resolution.”

In early May, President Donald Trump submitted a rescission request to Congress to roll back more than $15 billion in spending. The House initially seemed poised to pass the package before Congress’s Memorial Day recess, but now, CQ reports that consideration of the package will be delayed until at least June.

The Constitution assigns the power of the purse to Congress. It’s an awesome responsibility. Lawmakers’ spending decisions affect all citizens directly (in terms of how much they pay in taxes and what they receive in government services) and indirectly (in terms of how the decisions affect the overall economy). Because of this, accountability and transparency in budgeting are essential.

Also included is another COVID-19 relief “stimulus” package, this one costing taxpayers nearly $1 trillion. Congressional leaders have the enormous and oftentimes difficult responsibility of choosing the best policy decisions to present to their peers. This is a challenge under normal circumstances—even more so when they have to decide on a bundle of policy decisions, and under a tight deadline. This was abundantly clear with Monday’s appropriations package. While the bill includes some...

David Ditch is a research associate specializing in budget and transportation policy in the Grover M. Hermann Center for the Federal Budget at The Heritage Foundation. Congressional leaders introduced on Monday a fiscal year 2021 omnibus appropriations bill that would provide $1.4 trillion in spending for government agencies as well as a variety of unrelated legislative provisions. Also included is another COVID-19 relief “stimulus” package, this one costing taxpayers nearly $1 trillion. Co...