Congress,the Executive and the Budget

Abstract

During the autumn months of 1972 President Nixon and Congress engaged in a prolonged and bitter struggle over a spending ceiling. The president wanted a limit of $250 billion for fiscal 1973, with complete discretion to cut wherever needed to preserve the ceiling. Congress refused to grant him such broad discretion. This single incident tells one many valuable things about the relative advantages available to the two branches. While factually wide of the mark, the president's offensive against a big-spending Congress proved to be overpowering in the political arena. Congress lacked the capability—and, probably, also the will—to defend itself. The result was a serious collapse in informed and responsible policy making.