BUDGET BULLETIN – The Complex Case of Pell Grant Budgeting
The Pell Grant program is the largest single source of grant aid to postsecondary students, with federal spending on the program totaling $30.6 billion in fiscal year 2018. This needbased program also has one of the most complex funding structures in the federal budget, involving a mix of discretionary funding and two separate mandatory spending […]
Chairman Enzi: CBO’s Analyses Must Be Timely, Objective, Accurate, and Transparent
WASHINGTON D.C. – During a Senate Budget Committee hearing focused on the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) expanded transparency initiatives, Chairman Mike Enzi (R-WY) said that CBO should continue to focus on producing accurate and objective budget estimates in a transparent manner. “In the more than 40 years since CBO’s inception, Congress and the public have […]
BUDGET BULLETIN – Appropriations with Expired Authorizations
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) recently updated its annual Expired and Expiring Authorizations of Appropriations report to reflect enactment of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018. The updated report shows that of the $1.4 trillion in discretionary spending provided for 2018, $318 billion was spent on 1,035 agencies, programs, and functions with expired authorizations of appropriations […]
Chairmen Enzi and Alexander Request Report on Cost of Student Loan Repayments
WASHINGTON D.C. – Senate Budget Committee Chairman Mike Enzi (R-WY) and Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-TN) are asking the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to examine the effects of federal student loan policies on borrowing, loan repayment, cancellation, discharge, and forgiveness. The chairmen are seeking information on income-driven-repayment (IDR) plans. […]
BUDGET BULLETIN – Cap Adjustments: How the Government Raises Its Spending Limit
The 2011 Budget Control Act (BCA) allows for several cap adjustments to increase spending for specified purposes without triggering a breach of statutory spending limits. These adjustments, which have grown in number in successive spending deals, have supported a staggering $890 billion in discretionary spending beyond the BCA’s base caps. View the July 18 Budget […]
Budget Chairmen Urge Conference Committee to Prioritize Veterans within Existing Spending Limits
WASHINGTON, DC – This week, Senate Budget Committee Chairman Mike Enzi (R-WY) and House Budget Committee Chairman Steve Womack (AR-03) sent a letter to the members of the conference committee for H.R. 5895, the Energy and Water, Legislative Branch and Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act, 2019. In the letter, the chairmen urged conferees to […]
Senate Budget Members Make Bipartisan Request for GAO Study of DOD Financial IT Systems
WASHINGTON D.C. – Building on previous Senate Budget Committee oversight work on the DOD audit, Chairman Mike Enzi (R-WY), Ranking Member Bernard Sanders (I-VT), Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), and Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) today requested the Government Accountability Office conduct an independent review of the Department of Defense’s plans to acquire modern financial information technology […]
BUDGET BULLETIN – Changes in Mandatory Programs: An Overspending Tool
View the June 28 Budget Bulletin online here.
Chairman Enzi Urges Select Committee on Budget Reform to Consider 2-Year Appropriations Process
WASHINGTON D.C. – Senate Budget Committee Chairman Mike Enzi (R-WY) urged members of the Joint Select Committee on Budget and Appropriations Process Reform to consider moving Congress to a biennial appropriations system, which would provide funding for two years instead of one and allow lawmakers more time to develop and scrutinize government spending. Enzi has […]
Senate Budget Committee Members Press HHS on Billions of Improper Payments in Medicare and Medicaid
WASHINGTON D.C. – Republican members of the Senate Budget Committee sent a letter to Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar today on his agency’s plan to address the $89 billion of improper payments made within the Medicare and Medicaid programs each year. Budget Chairman Mike Enzi (R-WY) led fellow committee members […]