U.S. Federal Government Information

February 16, 2024

Federal Budget and Economic Outlook: 2024-2034

Projections of the Congressional Budget Office,

“The Congressional Budget Office regularly publishes reports presenting its baseline projections of what the federal budget and the economy would look like in the current year and over the next 10 years if laws governing taxes and spending generally remained unchanged. This report is the latest in that series.”

“In CBO’s projections, federal budget deficits total $20 trillion over the 2025–2034 period and federal debt held by the public reaches 116 percent of GDP. Economic growth slows to 1.5 percent in 2024 and then continues at a moderate pace.”

January 6, 2024

CBO: Using Multiple Data Sources to Learn About the Race and Ethnicity of Taxpayers

by David Badertscher

A presentation by Congressional Budget Office (CBO) analysts Rebecca Heller, Shannon Mok, and James Pearce, and Census Bureau research economist Jonathan Rothbaum at the American Economic Association Annual Meeting, Committee on Economic Statistics on January 5, 2024. According to the CBO, the purpose of this presentation is to summarize preliminary work conducted by CBO and the Census Bureau as part of CBO’s ongoing efforts to increase its capacity to analyze budgetary and economic outcomes for various demographic groups.

INTRODUCTION TO PRESENTATION:

Internal Revenue Service (IRS) data provide high-quality measures of income and are useful for studying how the tax system affects households. But those

October 15, 2023

Congressional Budget Office Plans in the Event of a Government Shutdown

by David Badertscher

CBO responds to Senator Rand Paul’s request for information about CBO’s operations had there been a shutdown on October 1.

CBO Letter responding to Senator Rand Paul’s request

Summary;

August 29, 2023

S. 2256, Federal Cybersecurity Workforce Expansion Act

by David Badertscher

New from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).

August 28, 2023 – Cost Estimate.

Summary.

August 24, 2023

S.539, Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency Act of 2023

by David Badertscher

New from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).

Cost Estimate, August 23. 2023

As ordered reported by the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, July 30, 2023

August 12, 2023

H.R. 3389,Emergency Wildfire Fighting Act of 2023

by David Badertscher

As ordered reported by the House Committee on Natural Resources on June 13, 2023

Congressional Budget Office, Cost Estimate–August 10, 2023.

Summary:

August 9, 2023

Congressional Budget Office Monthly Budget Review: July 2023

by David Badertscher

The federal budget deficit was $1.6 trillion in the first 10 months of fiscal year 2023, the Congressional Budget Office estimates—more than twice the shortfall recorded during the same period last year. Revenues were 10 percent lower and outlays were 10 percent higher from October through July than they were during the same period in fiscal year 2022.

Summary:

The federal budget deficit was $1.6 trillion in the first 10 months of fiscal year 2023, the Congressional Budget Office estimates—more than twice the shortfall recorded during the same period last year. Revenues were 10 percent lower and outlays were 10 percent higher from October through July than they were during the same period in fiscal year 2022.

August 5, 2023

CBO: Answers to Questions for the Record Following a Hearing on Social Security’s Finances

by David Badertscher

Report: August 4, 2023.

On July 12, 2023, the Senate Committee on the Budget convened a hearing at which Phillip L. Swagel, the Director of the Congressional Budget Office, testified about Social Security’s finances. After the hearing, Chairman Sheldon Whitehouse, Ranking Member Chuck Grassley, and Senator Ron Wyden submitted questions for the record. This document provides CBO’s answers.

Full Text of Document Providing CBO’s Answers to questions submitted.

August 5, 2023

Congressional Budget Office: H.R.4503, AI Training Expansion Act of 2023

by David Badertscher

August 4, 2023.

As ordered Reported by the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability on July 12, 2023.

Summary:

July 27, 2023

CBO Blog Post: A Call for New Research In the Area of Taxes and Transfers

by David Badertscher

Originally posted by John McClellan et. al. on July 25, 2023.

As part of the legislative process, the Congressional Budget Office* supplies the Congress with cost estimates for legislation, economic and budget projections, and other economic assessments. Information from the research community is an important element of CBO’s analyses. This is the seventh in a series of blog posts discussing research that would enhance the quality of the information that CBO uses in its work. (Earlier posts in the series discussed the need for new research in the areas of energy and the environment, finance, health, labor, macroeconomics, and national security.) Please send comments to communications@cbo.gov. Since this CBO blog post is believed to contain information of general interest it is being reproduced here, in full, as an information service.

CBO regularly provides the Congress with information about the ways that the government’s tax and transfer system affects the distribution of household income (for example, CBO 2022). That analysis is built on the models and data underlying the agency’s baseline projections of revenues and spending (CBO 2023). CBO is on the lookout for new research that would enhance its analysis of taxes and transfers, including research related to distributional analysis and projections of revenues from business income. The agency is currently working on those topics, and there are significant gaps in the relevant research literature.