ABSTRACT
Annual federal spending exceeds $4 trillion. The process by which the federal government develops and approves its budget involves many players. The federal government is a huge operation, with over 4 million employees and thousands of programs that provide for everything from weapons procurement to park maintenance. The large bulk of federal spending covers just five activities—Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, national defense, and interest on the national debt. Many different documents plan for and track the finances of the federal government. The Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 provides the foundation for the federal budget process, as outlined in the following chart. Congress has considered a variety of reform proposals including changing the federal fiscal year, abolishing the budget committees, and eliminating caps on the number of years members may serve on the budget committees. The president’s budget alone has consisted of multiple volumes, each offering a variety of perspectives on spending and revenue.
