ABSTRACT
The Founding Fathers intended Congress to propose national policy and enact new programs, and the president, armed with a veto, to be the agent of restraint. Congress has had little voice in determining overall spending levels for the country’s defense budget, and has seemed content to follow the lead of the president and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Historically, Congress’s institutional reforms have tended to buttress the independent exercise of legislative power. The congressional budget timetable requires enactment of two concurrent resolutions on the budget before the beginning of each fiscal year, October 1. The most common explanation for congressional acquiescence in the Defense Department’s proposals is that senators and congressmen feel ill-equipped to judge defense programs. In formulating national security policy Congress is hampered by a serious information gap. Control of information means control of policymaking. Members considered military spending measure on its political merits but rarely relation to total federal spending.
