Papers
View our recurring reports, which summarize and analyze the most important regular federal budget releases and reports.
Playing By the (Budget) Rules: Understanding and Preventing Budget Gimmicks
The breakdown in the federal budget process and erosion of budget discipline have led to the increasingly pervasive reliance on budget gimmicks. While...
Five Ways the Budget Process Has Failed
Today is the deadline for Congressional leaders to announce the Members of Congress serving on the Joint Select Committee on Budget and Appropriations...
Analysis of the President's FY 2019 Budget
The Trump Administration released its Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 budget proposal today. The budget proposes a number of tax and spending changes that it...
What We’d Like to See in President Trump’s FY 2019 Budget
The Trump Administration is slated to release its budget outlining the President’s priorities for Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 and the next decade on Monday...
Q&A: Everything You Should Know About Government Shutdowns
This paper has been updated here. As we’ve learned to expect, Congress seems to be waiting until the last minute to address several important fiscal...
Maya MacGuineas's Testimony on Continuing Resolutions, Omnibuses, and Shutdowns
On February 6, 2018, Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget president Maya MacGuineas testified before the Senate Homeland Security and...
Q&A: Everything You Should Know About Government Shutdowns
This paper has been updated here. As we’ve learned to expect, Congress seems to be waiting until the last minute to address several important fiscal...
Q&A: Everything You Should Know About the Debt Ceiling - Jan 2018
This Q&A has been updated. See here for the latest version. One issue that must be addressed soon is the federal debt ceiling, which was reinstated on...
Budgeting for the Next Generation: A New Series on Children and the Federal Budget
The federal budget is arguably the most comprehensive representation of the federal government’s priorities. Policymakers use the budget to determine...
Gimmicks to Look Out For in a Spending Deal
With Congress moving toward funding the government for the remainder of fiscal year 2018, pressure is mounting to increase discretionary spending...
The Year-End Debt Dilemma
As the year comes to a close, lawmakers have a number of legislative deadlines and a variety of issues they need or want to address – many of which...
Can Tax Reform Generate 0.4% Additional Growth?
Well-crafted tax reform would improve economic growth. While pro-growth tax reform can generate some revenue to the Treasury from the added growth, as...