Ap u.s. government & politics Tuesday, February 13, 2018

Current events discussion 7 Minutes

Unit 4 practice mc section Review/Discuss

THE FEDERAL BUDGET: PROCESS & POLITICS

The President’s Budget Starts with the President and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) - due 1st week of Feb. each year dgetary Process 1.) OMB communicates with gov’t agencies/depts. to get budget estimates 2.) OMB works with president on creation of budget the from estimates 3.) OMB communicates guidelines to agencies/depts., who create their budgets 4.) OMB drafts official budget document when all budget guidelines align

The President’s Budget is then sent to Congress (ONLY Congress has the power to appropriate/assign funds for gov’t spending) udgetary Process 5.) Congressional Budget Office (CBO) sends budget and analysis to both House and Senate Budget Committees (other committees send info as well) 6.) Budget committees set budget resolution (total level of budget spending for the fiscal year) -official guidelines for budget process in Congress -gov’t CANNOT spend more than this amount of money

7) Congress has three methods of authorizing spending: islating the Budget 1) Pass authorization bills - bills that create or change a specific gov’t program (including its setup and expenditures) Must also pass an appropriations bill Bills that officially fund authorization bills OR 2) budget reconciliation - edits to current program spending to match the new budget spending levels 3) Pass a continuing resolution – allowing each agency to spend at the same levels as the previous fiscal year

Congress usually ends up passing continuing resolutionset Politics

Other influences on the budget

Other Influences in the Budget Process Members of Congress push for pork barrel spending for constituencies

Government agencies always push for bigger budgets

House Ways and Means Committee and Senate Finance Committee deal with tax code legislation to fund the budget

Interest groups try to influence Congress to allocate money for favored programs

“Budget Hawks” push for cuts to existing programs, and resist bills to raise the government’s “debt ceiling” In 1995, Congress and the president could not reach agreement on the federal budget and non-essential government services were temporarily shut down.

After the Budget is Passed Last but not least: Government Accountability Office (GAO) monitors budget implementation and how agencies use their budgets

Exit Ticket: Practice MCQ Federal spending for which of the following is determined by laws that lie outside of the regular budgetary process? a. Military procurement b. Regulatory agency funding c. Government--‐subsidized housing programs d. Educational assistance programs such as student loans e. Entitlement programs like Social Security

Reminders Thursday Chapter 13 Reading & Outline Due Chapter 13 Vocab Quiz Friday Practice FRQ #13 Requiem Chapter 6 Due