ABSTRACT
Congress has always delegated authority to the president. But this tendency went to a new level with the 1921 Budget and Accounting Act, which created the Bureau of the Budget, later renamed the Office of Management and Budget. It is reasonable to wonder why Congress would willingly have provided the president this potentially powerful institutional tool, which could be wielded against it in the struggle over the direction of policy. But the federal budget was under great stress, and had been since the end of World War one in 1918. Congress may be as specific as it wants to be in legislation—authorizing or appropriations—in giving direction to agencies. Many agencies come up for reauthorization on a regular basis. The relationship between the president and Congress was constitutionally established to invite struggle. The chapter explores how the struggle plays out in a couple of important areas of public policy.
