CBO's Budget and Economic Outlook

		Description

Each year, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) releases a projection of budgetary and economic outcomes titled The Budget and Economic Outlook . The budget is required to include (1) estimates of spending, revenues, borrowing, and debt; (2) detailed estimates of the financial operations of federal agencies and programs; (3) the President's budgetary, policy, and legislative recommendations; and (4) information supporting the President's recommendations. The budget resolution reflects an agreement between the House and Senate on a budgetary framework for the upcoming fiscal year, designed to establish parameters within which Congress will consider subsequent budgetary legislation. The budget resolution does not become law: therefore, no money is spent or collected as a result of its adoption. Instead, it is meant to assist Congress in considering an overall budget plan. FY2018 Actions

This section will be updated to reflect actions on budget reconciliation as they occur. Appropriations in some form must be enacted by the beginning of a new fiscal year (October 1) or a government shutdown may occur. Such programs, also referred to as direct spending programs or entitlement programs, generally continue annually without any congressional action required. The content and consideration of revenue measures is shaped primarily by House and Senate rules and the budget resolution. Each year Congress passes legislation that affects revenue in varying degrees. Debt Limit Legislation

		Description

The Constitution allows Congress to restrict the amount of federal debt that may be incurred as part of its power of the purse. The implementation of extraordinary measures does not typically require legislative action. Such budgetary restrictions can take many forms. Congress has typically incorporated some type of internal budget enforcement in each recent Congress. The House Budget Committee held a number of hearings and released a series of "working papers focused on the committee's effort to overhaul the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 and reform the congressional budget process."
The Constitution grants Congress the power of the purse, but does not dictate how Congress must fulfill this constitutional duty. Congress has, therefore, developed certain types of budgetary legislation, along with rules and practices that govern its content and consideration. This set of budgetary legislation, rules, and practices is often referred to as the congressional budget process.
There is no prescribed congressional budget process that must be strictly followed each year, and Congress does not always consider budgetary measures in a linear or predictable pattern. Such dissimilarity can be the result of countless factors, such as a lack of consensus, competing budgetary priorities, the economy, natural disasters, military engagements, and other circumstances creating complications, obstacles, and interruptions within the policymaking process.
Since the budget process will vary significantly each year, it is better understood not as a definite set of actions that must occur annually, but instead as an array of opportunities for affecting the federal budget. This report seeks to assist in (1) anticipating what budget-related actions might occur within the upcoming year, and (2) staying abreast of budget actions that occur this year. It provides a general description of the recurrent types of budgetary actions, and reflects recent events that have unfolded in each category during 2017. In addition, it includes information on certain events that may affect Congress's work on the budget, such as the President's budget request and the Congressional Budget Office's budget and economic outlook. The most-recent budget actions will be noted at the beginning of the report.