Possibilities for Budget Process Reform in the New Congress

Flaws in the federal budget process have become self-evident over the past decade, with delayed federal funding and government shutdowns turning into an annual tradition. These concerns have escalated this fiscal year; while 5 of the federal government’s 12 appropriation bills were enacted on time, unfortunately agreement could not be reached on the remainder. This led to the partial government shutdown that has been in place since December 21^st, affecting approximately 800,000 federal employees and many federal programs.

These failures in the politics and process of putting together the federal budget have rightfully led to questions about whether the process could improved to make it easier to pass the federal budget in full and on time. Michael Veselik of the Convergence Center for Policy Resolution and Sandy Davis, former Senior Adviser at BPC join BPC’s policy podcast to discuss recent work on budget process reform and possibilities for the new Congress.