In Our Estimation: Budget 101

The Congressional Budget Act of 1974 established the House and Senate Committees on the Budget to set federal spending policy and identify priorities for allocating budgetary resources. To support those committees in carrying out their responsibilities, the act also established CBO and required the agency to regularly publish budgetary and economic projections based on the assumption that current laws regarding federal spending and revenues would generally remain in place. Those projections, which are known as baseline projections, cover the 10-year period used in the Congressional budget process.

In the second episode of CBO’s three-part podcast series, Adam Russell and three analysts from CBO’s Budget Analysis Division discuss the components of the federal budget, how the agency works to support the budget committees, and CBO’s current budget projections.

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