Final Details of Budget Deal Released
Today, lawmakers released the final details of the budget deal struck late Friday night. CBO also released a final score of the appropriations for the remainder of the year. The deal will cut spending by $38 billion compared to 2010 levels and $78 billion compared to the President's budget.
Looking at each of the appropriations categories, most will be seeing a reduction from 2010 levels--with the largest savings (percentage-wise) coming from Commerce-Justice-Science (21 percent reduction) and transportation spending (24 percent reduction). Overall, defense spending will increase by $5 billion this year.
It should be noted that of the $38 billion in spending cuts, nearly half stem from changes in mandatory programs (or CHIMPS in budget-speak) and so do not represent a permanent reduction in allocations for some appropriations categories. For instance, changes to highway contract authority and other mandatory savings will be re-categorized as mandatory savings at the end of the year. In addition, a reduction of $6.2 billion came from the 2010 census, which was just a temporary increase for 2010 and helped to make overall Commerce-Justice-Science cuts appear larger.
| (Budget Authority, Billions) | FY 2010 Enacted | President's 2011 Request |
FY 2011 Budget Deal | FY 2011 Budget Deal (Percent Below 2010) |
| Non-Defense/Non-Security | ||||
| Agriculture, Rural Development, FDA | $23 | $23 | $20 | 15% |
| Commerce, Justice, Science | $64 | $61 | $53 | 21% |
| Energy and Water Development | $33 | $35 | $32 | 3% |
| Financial Services and General Government | $24 | $25 | $22 | 9% |
| Interior, Environment | $32 | $32 | $30 | 7% |
| Labor, Health and Human Services, Education | $164 | $171 | $158 | 4% |
| Legislative Branch | $5 | $5 | $5 | 0% |
| State, Foreign Operations | $50 | $57 | $48 | 4% |
| Transportation, HUD | $68 | $69 | $55 | 24% |
| Domestic and International Spending (Subtotal) | $462 | $478 | $422 | 9% |
| Defense, Security, and Veterans Spending | ||||
| Defense | $508 | $531 | $513 | -1% |
| Homeland Security | $43 | $45 | $42 | 2% |
| Military Construction, Veterans Affairs | $77 | $76 | $73 | 5% |
| Security Spending, Subtotal | $627 | $651 | $628 | 0% |
| Total, Regular Discretionary | $1,087 | $1,128 | $1,050 | 4% |
* Numbers rounded to the nearest billion. Totals may not compute due to rounding.
It was reassuring to see lawmakers reach a bipartisan agreement--albeit in the 11th hour (literally!)--on an issue that became very contentious. Now the debate in Washington can move on to more important issues, including the debt ceiling and our broader fiscal challenges. We hope that lawmakers can continue to search for bipartisan solutions to our mounting deficits.