Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget
Washington Monument

Papers

View our recurring reports, which summarize and analyze the most important regular federal budget releases and reports.

Concept_DC_Capitol Building
Jul 8, 2020 | Budget Process

Appropriations 101

Note: This paper has been updated. What are...
Concept_Stock Market_Recession
Jun 29, 2020 | Budgets & Projections

Webinar & Chartbook: Projecting COVID's Fiscal Impact

The United States is currently experiencing one of its sharpest economic crises in modern history as a result of the global COVID-19 pandemic and...
Concept_Debt
Jun 24, 2020 | Budgets & Projections

Updated Budget Projections Show Fiscal Toll of COVID-19 Pandemic

The United States is currently experiencing one of its sharpest economic crises in modern history as a result of the global COVID-19 pandemic and...
Concept_Myths
Jun 9, 2020 | Budgets & Projections

Debunking Debt Myths in the COVID Economy

Federal debt held by the public is slated to grow by roughly $4 trillion in fiscal year 2020 and exceed the size of the economy by year’s end....
Jun 3, 2020 | Other Spending

Webinar & Chartbook: What's the Status of COVID Relief Money?

On March 27, 2020, the President signed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act into law, the most sweeping economic...
Jun 2, 2020 | Other Spending

Maya MacGuineas's Testimony on Pandemic Response Oversight

On June 3, 2020, Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget president Maya MacGuineas testified before the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee...
May 22, 2020 | Economics

Chartbook: The COVID-19 Crisis and Federal Response

The economic crisis sparked by the COVID-19 pandemic has been sharper and more dramatic than any we have experienced in our nation’s history....
Apr 23, 2020 | Budgets & Projections

Webinar & Chartbook: Unpacking the Next Phase of COVID-19 Relief

The Senate earlier this week passed the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act – the fourth piece of legislation aimed...
Social Security_Card_Layered
Apr 22, 2020 | Social Security

Analysis of the 2020 Social Security Trustees' Report

Today, the Social Security Trustees released their annual report, showing that...
Concept_DC_White House
Mar 30, 2020 | Budgets & Projections

CBO’s Analysis of the President’s FY 2021 Budget

Today, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its analysis of the...
Mar 17, 2020 | Health Care

Choices for Financing Medicare for All

Proposals to adopt a single-payer health care system – commonly called Medicare for All – have become increasingly popular. Such proposals, which...
Concept_Scale
Mar 9, 2020 | Budgets & Projections

Budget Offsets Bank

The federal debt is at a post-war record high, deficits are set to exceed the trillion-dollar mark...
Concept_Budget

Budget Resolution Principles for Fiscal Year 2021

The Congressional budget resolution should establish national priorities in a responsible manner. Congress should follow these principles to craft...
Feb 26, 2020 | Health Care

Primary Care: Estimating Democratic Candidates’ Health Plans

Health care is the single largest part of the federal budget and a key driver of our unsustainably rising national debt. Rising health care...
Feb 25, 2020 | Budget Process

Congress Increasingly Fails to Budget

The Congressional budget process calls for an annual budget resolution to make explicit the tradeoffs between discretionary spending, direct...
Feb 10, 2020 | Budgets & Projections

Analysis of the President’s FY 2021 Budget

The Trump Administration released its Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 budget...
Concept_calculator
Jan 28, 2020 | Budgets & Projections

Analysis of CBO’s Budget and Economic Outlook (January 2020)

Today, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its January 2020 Budget and Economic Outlook...
Jan 24, 2020

ARCHIVE: Primary Care: Estimating Leading Democratic Candidates’ Health Plans

Note (2/26/2020): This analysis is now out of date. We released an updated version of this analysis,...
Concept_DC_Capitol Building Storm

Q&A: Everything You Should Know About Government Shutdowns

The fiscal year began on Oct. 1, 2019, and Congress has enacted none of 12 appropriations bills setting discretionary spending levels. Lawmakers...
Nov 6, 2019 | Budget Process

Letter to Senate Budget Committee: Advance Bipartisan Budget Improvements

Below is a letter sent today from Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget president Maya MacGuineas to Senate Budget Committee Chairman...

Pages