The Federal Budget and Expenditure Control

Abstract

Experience over the past year with administra tion and congressional efforts to restrain federal expenditures has emphasized the need for better budget control procedures and mechanisms than now exist. Although expenditures can only be made on the basis of prior authorization of Congress, primary control of the levels of annual spending is exercised by the Executive. Item-veto authority would strengthen its con trol. Congressional control of a given year's expenditures through the conventional appropriations process is limited to a small portion of the total budget—about one-third of total for nondefense programs. Congress could increase its control over annual expenditures by adopting the practice of setting ceil ings on expenditures or at least on obligations, and preferably in conjunction with a single-package appropriations bill in place of the present multibill practice of appropriating. The making of decisions by the Executive and Congress on budget priorities, with respect to both the total and its individual parts, could be improved by creation of a program-evaluation commission. Finally, creation of a joint congressional budget committee consisting of a relatively small number of majority and minority members of the appropriations and tax-writing committees would encourage over-all budget decisions by the Congress instead of piecemeal decisions alone.