FEDERALhearing transcript

2016 Budget Hearing for Congressional Budget Office and Government Accountability Office

Original title: LEGISLATIVE BRANCH APPROPRIATIONS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2016

January 1, 2015

federal budget congressional oversight CBO GAO appropriations fiscal policy

Track this bill to get notified when it advances a stage. One tap to stop, anytime.

The Frame

What this does

The hearing sets the stage for funding levels for the agencies that provide Congress with the economic forecasts and oversight reports used to draft all federal legislation and spending bills.

Who is mentioned in the record

Potentially affected actors named in the source documents. Mention is not a position.

Congressional Budget Office

The agency is seeking a budget increase and additional staffing to meet new legislative analysis requirements.

Government Accountability Office

The agency is seeking a budget increase to expand its workforce toward a target of 3,250 FTEs.

What changed

Last recorded activity January 1, 2015.

What's next

Next step not available in the current record.

Summary

The Senate Subcommittee on Legislative Branch held a hearing to review the 2016 budget requests for the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the Government Accountability Office (GAO). The session also marked the final appearance of outgoing CBO Director Dr. Douglas Elmendorf and introduced the transition to incoming Director Dr. Keith Hall.

Key Facts

The CBO requested a total budget of $47.27 million for FY 2016, a 3.4% increase over 2015.
The GAO requested a total budget of $553.1 million for FY 2016, a 6% increase over 2015.
The CBO request includes funding for three additional full-time equivalent (FTE) positions to handle new House rules regarding dynamic economic analysis and healthcare policy work.
The GAO request includes an increase in staffing from 3,015 to 3,055 FTEs, as part of a long-term plan to reach 3,250 FTEs.
Dr. Keith Hall was appointed as the new CBO Director, with a term beginning April 1, 2015, and expiring January 3, 2019.
Dr. Douglas Elmendorf is concluding a 6-year tenure as CBO Director.
The CBO budget increase includes $1.7 million for rising pay and benefits, offset by a $550,000 decrease in non-pay expenditures.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the CBO's role in Congress?

The CBO provides objective, non-partisan cost estimates, budget projections, and economic forecasts to assist Congress in legislative and funding decisions.

What is the GAO's 'high risk list'?

It is a list published at the start of each new Congress that identifies federal government programs and operations at high risk for waste, fraud, abuse, or mismanagement.

Why is the CBO requesting more staff?

The CBO needs additional staff to comply with new House rules requiring '' of legislation and to increase capacity for healthcare policy analysis.

Why It Matters

The hearing sets the stage for funding levels for the agencies that provide Congress with the economic forecasts and oversight reports used to draft all federal legislation and spending bills.

News Coverage

No news coverage found yet. Articles are indexed twice daily.

Discoveries

Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.

policy shift90% confidence

New House Rule Impact

The CBO budget request explicitly cites a new House rule requiring 'dynamic analysis' as a driver for increased staffing needs.

Congressional Budget Office

Connected Entities

personBrian Schatz“Ranking Member of the Senate Subcommittee on Legislative Branch Appropriations”Map →

personShelley Moore Capito“Chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Legislative Branch Appropriations”Map →

personOrrin Hatch“President Pro Tempore of the Senate”Map →

personJohn Boehner“Speaker of the House”Map →

personKeith Hall“Incoming Director of the Congressional Budget Office”Map →

personDouglas W. Elmendorf“Outgoing Director of the Congressional Budget Office”Map →

personGene Dodaro“Head of the Government Accountability Office”Map →

Sources

Open source document

www.govinfo.gov

Analysis Score

0–100

Significance65
How much this matters to a regular citizen
Controversy15
Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
Entertainment10
Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
Buzz10
Current news / social attention level

Publisher tools