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Congressional committees should be preparing to release their legislative hopes for the year right now, at least in broad strokes. This is the first congressional step in the annual budget process after Congress gets the president’s budget request and the Congressional Budget Office’s baseline update.
Tune in for a lively discussion on commonsense fiscal policy with AFP’s Kurt Couchman and Congressman Andy Biggs.
AFP senior fellow Kurt Couchman’s statement for a House Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on potential shutdown impacts.
Members of Congress need an annual schedule with a regular cadence. Shared expectations support policy development, coalition building, and healthy competition on a wide range of priorities.
This series aims to illustrate how Congress can become the empowered, yet bounded, legislature that America needs.
What share of federal health subsidies are “discretionary” spending and therefore part of the annual appropriations bills? 10.8 percent.
The House Judiciary Committee had planned – now delayed – to mark up a balanced budget amendment (BBA) following a hearing last month. Most BBAs would require spending and revenue to balance. Ideally, that would happen over the medium term, not each year.
For now, the likelihood that President Trump will give Congress a budget request on time and before the State of the Union is encouraging. Perhaps it’s even a sign that the federal government is turning the corner on dysfunction, just in time for America to celebrate its 250th birthday.
Kurt Couchman testified before the House Budget Committee on designing balanced budget amendments and related statutory budget upgrades in December 2024.
