An Analysis of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974

Naval War College Review ^ | 3/21/1977 | Lawrence J. Korb

[Sequoyah101]

"The Congressional Budget Act of 1974 is, in the words of former Speaker of the House Carl Albert, the most significant congressional initiative in the last 75 years. Under it the Congress is now required by law to consider the Federal budget as a whole and to act upon it before the commencement of the fiscial year."

That didn't age well. I think the process has been followed only four or five times since it began in 1975. Since 1974 budget appropriation has only been completed on time FOUR years; 1977, 1989, 1995 and 1997.

Congress can't follow it and can't get rid of it either, even if they wanted to. I and many others believe there is a much better way. I could have never run a business the way the Federal Government is run. I would have failed much more then the one time I did and would not have gotten as many chances to succeed as I did either. Governments are the only entities that can budget money they don't have and never will get except by endless borrowing and bust budgets over and over and over and still keep doing it without somebody being punished. When you write a check or an IOU that you know can't be made good it is fraud. Our government and politicians are frauds.

[Sequoyah101]

I have suggested often to anyone who would hear that if we want to cut the cost of this government the place to start is the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 and all of its many spawn. There was once a good Wikipedia article on the subject but it has been taken down and replaced by a much watered version.

Congress agreed to the mess in anger and crisis but will probably never muster the same majority outrage to repeal it and so we are stuck with it. The were pissed off at Nixon for impounding appropriations he did not think it was necessary to spend. He also took us off the gold standard and made hospitals for profit. Nixon was smart but did a lot of evil things that were not because he was stupid. This, the CBA, is probably why DOGE is the only way to make any progress and that too now seems in doubt what with the black robed crows of the federal district judgeship now running the country and the Presidency from the bench. Impoundment of Congressionally authorized funds may not work out either. The hook there is that Congress hardly has followed the rules either in many years.

The CBA of 1974 has given us: 1. Reconciliation 2. The Byrd Rule 3. Simple majority vote in the Senate for budget items 4. The Congressional Budget Office 5. Baseline Budgeting and all of the associated waste 6. Spend it or lose it waste 7. Automatic Base Line Budget increases in accordance with inflation and growth as determined by the CBO 8. An ever growing out of control federal budget that doubles about every 1- to 12 years or less 9. And the ever popular Continuing resolution and the brinksmanship of Government shut downs

To end the mess Congress would have to legislate removal or reform and a President would have to agree and sign it into law. That seems unlikely to me.

The article attached seems a good place to start for anyone who is interested in learning about another windmill to flail at. Something you and I are all but assuredly helpless to ever change or even manage or convince anyone who might do something to be able to do it at all. That is the problem with laws too easily passed in crisis or anger, they become permanent mistakes and haunt us essentially forever. We are never safe when Congress is in session with an agreeable President.

If anyone is interested here are some other citations:

What's Wrong with the Federal Budget Process; Heritage Foundation 2005 https://www.heritage.org/budget-and-spending/report/whats-wrong-the-federal-budget-process

A Better Budget; Committee on the Budget, Senate; Mike Enzi, Chairman; ca 2024 https://www.pgpf.org/article/continuing-resolutions-were-designed-to-be-stopgap-measures-but-now-we-average-five-a-year/

The Bill of 1974 https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/COMPS-10356/pdf/COMPS-10356.pdf

Impoundment Explainer; House Committee on the Budget; Opposition to change, 2024 https://democrats-budget.house.gov/resources/fact-sheet/impoundment-explainer

The Congressional Budget and Impoundment Act at 50; Hutchins Center; Phillip Joyce; 2024 https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/WP93_Joyce.pdf

Reflections on the Congressional Budget Act; Center for American Progress; Sam Berger et al; 2018 https://www.americanprogress.org/article/reflections-congressional-budget-act/

Testimony on the CBA of 1974; House Committee on Budget; Paul G. Dembling Testimony; June 28, 1978 https://www.gao.gov/assets/Impoundment_Control_Act__GAO_product_106251.pdf

CBO Explains the Statutory Foundations of Its Budget Baseline; CBO, May 2023 https://www.cbo.gov/publication/59208

Senator Braun Introduces Legislation for a Better Budget Baseline to Increase Transparency: National Taxpayers Union Foundation; Brady et al; July 2024 https://www.ntu.org/foundation/detail/senator-braun-introduces-legislation-for-a-better-budget-baseline-and-to-increase-transparency

Policy Basics: Introduction to the Federal Budget Process; Center on Budget and Policy Priorities; Updated October 28, 2024 https://www.ntu.org/foundation/detail/senator-braun-introduces-legislation-for-a-better-budget-baseline-and-to-increase-transparency

What You Need to Know About Continuing Resolutions; Bipartisan Policy Center; Loutz et al; Feb. 26, 2024 https://bipartisanpolicy.org/explainer/what-to-know-about-continuing-resolutions/

Continuing Resolutions are Stopgap Measures - But Now We Average Five a Year; Peter G. Peterson Foundation; Last updated December 23, 2024 https://www.pgpf.org/article/continuing-resolutions-were-designed-to-be-stopgap-measures-but-now-we-average-five-a-year/

Everybody, in addition to me, talks about it and nobody does or can do a thing about the problems that many see are there. The only thing the Budget Process seems to accomplish is out of control Government; spending and otherwise bedlam.

[Sequoyah101]

Wouldn’t it be great if there was a public watchdog group that held politicians accountable and punished them when they fail? Such a group might be like the War Production Board. If in a term Congress and Senators failed to do required things like, oh I don’t know, pass a balanced budget or one that had no fraud or waste in it, that all of them were prohibited from running for office ever again.

Wait, we sort of have that now, it is called voting but we aren’t smart enough, wise enough, serious enough or much of anything enough to do it correctly.

[11th_VA]

I believe 80 Senators voted for the act

[Sequoyah101]

That sounds about right. They were mad at Nixon for not spending their pet projects.