Federal Budget

HIGHLIGHTS

  • Saving the American Dream Saving the American Dream

    The Heritage Foundation offers a detailed plan to redesign entitlement programs, guarantee assistance to those who need it, and save the American dream for future generations. Read More.

  • How to Cut $343 Billion from the Federal Budget How to Cut $343 Billion from the Federal Budget

    Federal spending is on an unsustainable path that risks disaster for America. Runaway spending has increased annual federal budget deficits to unprecedented levels, adding $2.7 trillion to the national debt in the past two years alone. Read More.

  • Reining in Runaway Spending and Deficits Reining in Runaway Spending and Deficits

    The Obama Administration has used the recession as an excuse for a historic and permanent expansion of government and deficits. Only during the height of World War II has Washington matched current levels of spending (25% of GDP) and deficits (10% of GDP). Read More.

  • Federal Budget Chart Book Federal Budget Chart Book

    See the web’s best visual presentation of federal spending, taxes, debt, and entitlements. Read More.

Our Research & Offerings on Federal Budget
  • Issue Brief posted May 8, 2012 by Ryan T. Anderson The Budget and Religion: Principles for Informing Policy

    House Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan (R–WI) is being criticized by the secular and religious left for comments he made about the role his Catholic faith played in crafting his budget. The most outrageous criticism is that it played any role at all. The reactions to…

  • Issue Brief posted May 7, 2012 by Patrick Louis Knudsen Why Budget “Reconciliation” Matters

    The spending reduction plan in the U.S. House of Representatives takes an important step toward fixing two huge budget and policy dilemmas facing Congress: the crude, across-the-board spending cuts mandated by last year’s debt ceiling agreement, and the unsustainable growth of entitlement spending, which threatens to overwhelm the budget and…

  • Play Movie Alison Fraser on Budget Battles on FOX Video Recorded on April 9, 2012 Alison Fraser on Budget Battles on FOX

    Alison Fraser comments on the budget battles in Congress on FOX. …

  • Play Movie Brian Darling on the Federal Budget on Fox Business Video Recorded on April 2, 2012 Brian Darling on the Federal Budget on Fox Business

    Brian Darling discusses the federal budget on Fox Business. …

  • Issue Brief posted March 28, 2012 by Patrick Louis Knudsen RSC Budget Has Ambitious Targets, Needs More Policy Detail

    The Republican Study Committee (RSC) has once again pushed the outside of the fiscal envelope, presenting a budget that reaches balance in just five years—twice as fast as the group’s proposal a year ago—through entitlement reforms, deep spending reductions, and no tax increases. This aggressive plan incorporates many elements of…

  • Backgrounder posted March 26, 2012 by J.D. Foster, Ph.D. The Obama Budget’s Hidden Medicare Spending

    Abstract: The President’s budget perpetuates a misleading portrayal of the true magnitude of federal spending. This is most clearly evident in the figures for Medicare spending, which the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) reports as $480 billion for 2011—$80 billion less than the…

  • Backgrounder posted March 23, 2012 by Jessica Zuckerman The 2013 Homeland Security Budget: Misplaced Priorities

    Abstract: In February 2012, President Obama issued his FY 2013 budget proposal. His $59 billion request for the Department of Homeland Security is slightly lower than the enacted level for FY 2012. The President is to be applauded for continuing strong financial investments in…

  • Issue Brief posted March 21, 2012 by Alison Acosta Fraser, Patrick Louis Knudsen The Ryan Budget: Confronting the Nation’s Spending Crisis

    In the few months since Washington’s dramatic debt ceiling confrontation, America’s fiscal situation has only worsened. Federal spending is set to soar past previous record-shattering levels, endangering the economic future of the nation. This is a moral issue because younger generations will be forced to bear either staggering levels of…

  • Issue Brief posted March 20, 2012 by Jessica Zuckerman Federal Flight Deck Officer Program: First Line of Deterrence, Last Line of Defense

    In his fiscal year (FY) 2013 budget proposal for the Department of Homeland Security, President Obama called for a 50 percent cut in funding for the Federal Flight Deck Officer (FFDO) program. Often seen as the last line of defense against the threat of terrorist hijackings and other air piracy,…

  • Backgrounder posted March 19, 2012 by Curtis Dubay Obama FY 2013 Budget Violates Basic Principles of Tax Reform

    Abstract: The current tax code is an enormous burden on the economy, preventing it from reaching its full potential. Tax reform is long overdue. After initial reluctance, President Obama now agrees that the economy needs tax reform. He…

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  • Backgrounder posted March 15, 2005 by Daniel Mitchell, Ph.D. The Impact of Government Spending on Economic Growth

    For more on government spending, read Brian Reidl's new paper "Why Government Does Not Stimulate Economic Growth" ------ …

  • WebMemo posted October 6, 2009 by Brian Riedl 50 Examples of Government Waste

    Soaring government spending and trillion-dollar budget deficits have brought fiscal responsibility -- and reducing government waste -- back onto the national agenda. President Obama recently identified 0.004 of 1 percent of the federal budget as wasteful and proposed eliminating this $140 million from his $3.6 trillion fiscal year 2010 budget…

  • Backgrounder posted March 16, 2009 by Brian Riedl The Obama Budget: Spending, Taxes, and Doubling the National Debt

    During his presidential campaign, President Barack Obama promised the American people a "net spending cut."1 Instead, he signed a "stimulus" bill that spends $800 billion, and he has proposed a budget that would: Increase spending by $1 trillion over…

  • Backgrounder posted April 4, 2005 by Brian Riedl Top 10 Examples of Government Waste

    President George W. Bush has proposed terminating or strongly reducing the budgets of over 150 inefficient or ineffective programs. This is a step in the right direction to pare back the runaway spending that has pushed the budget deficit over $400 billion. In less than three years,…

  • WebMemo posted October 20, 2005 by Ronald Utt, Ph.D. The Bridge to Nowhere: A National Embarrassment

    Today, Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) will offer an amendment to the Senate's appropriation bill to transfer the $223 million that Congress had previously approved for a bridge in Ketchikan, Alaska, to fund reconstruction of a hurricane-damaged bridge in Louisiana. Dubbed the "Bridge to Nowhere," the bridge in Alaska would connect the town of Ketchikan (population 8,900)…

  • Backgrounder on February 28, 2012 President Obama’s 2013 Budget Delivers Tax Hikes, More Spending, More Debt

    Abstract: The President’s 2013 budget, released on February 13, repeats the stale and unsuccessful policies of the past three years. The Administration’s apparent vision is one of bigger government, more spending, higher taxes, and deeper deficits. At a time when runaway spending and swelling…

  • Issue Brief posted May 7, 2012 by Patrick Louis Knudsen Why Budget “Reconciliation” Matters

    The spending reduction plan in the U.S. House of Representatives takes an important step toward fixing two huge budget and policy dilemmas facing Congress: the crude, across-the-board spending cuts mandated by last year’s debt ceiling agreement, and the unsustainable growth of entitlement spending, which threatens to overwhelm the budget and…

  • Backgrounder posted November 12, 2008 by Brian Riedl Why Government Spending Does Not Stimulate Economic Growth

    In a throwback to the 1930s and 1970s, Democratic lawmakers are betting that America's economic ills can be cured by an extraordinary expansion of government. This tired approach has already failed repeatedly in the past year, in which Congress and the President: …

  • Backgrounder posted January 5, 2010 by Brian Riedl Why Government Spending Does Not Stimulate Economic Growth: Answering the Critics

    Abstract: Despite decades of repeated failure, President Obama and Congress continue to promote the myth that government can spend its way out of recession. Heritage Foundation economic policy expert Brian Riedl dispels the stimulus myth, lays out the evidence that government spending does not end recessions--and…

  • Backgrounder posted June 21, 2010 by Brian Riedl The Three Biggest Myths About Tax Cuts and the Budget Deficit

    Abstract: The annual federal budget deficit is projected to reach 8.3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2020—more than three times the historical average of 2.3 percent. This dramatic increase in the federal deficit will be exclusively the result of increasing spending, not…

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  • Issue Brief posted May 8, 2012 by Ryan T. Anderson The Budget and Religion: Principles for Informing Policy

    House Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan (R–WI) is being criticized by the secular and religious left for comments he made about the role his Catholic faith played in crafting his budget. The most outrageous criticism is that it played any role at all. The reactions to…

  • Issue Brief posted May 7, 2012 by Patrick Louis Knudsen Why Budget “Reconciliation” Matters

    The spending reduction plan in the U.S. House of Representatives takes an important step toward fixing two huge budget and policy dilemmas facing Congress: the crude, across-the-board spending cuts mandated by last year’s debt ceiling agreement, and the unsustainable growth of entitlement spending, which threatens to overwhelm the budget and…

  • Issue Brief posted March 28, 2012 by Patrick Louis Knudsen RSC Budget Has Ambitious Targets, Needs More Policy Detail

    The Republican Study Committee (RSC) has once again pushed the outside of the fiscal envelope, presenting a budget that reaches balance in just five years—twice as fast as the group’s proposal a year ago—through entitlement reforms, deep spending reductions, and no tax increases. This aggressive plan incorporates many elements of…

  • Backgrounder posted March 26, 2012 by J.D. Foster, Ph.D. The Obama Budget’s Hidden Medicare Spending

    Abstract: The President’s budget perpetuates a misleading portrayal of the true magnitude of federal spending. This is most clearly evident in the figures for Medicare spending, which the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) reports as $480 billion for 2011—$80 billion less than the…

  • Backgrounder posted March 23, 2012 by Jessica Zuckerman The 2013 Homeland Security Budget: Misplaced Priorities

    Abstract: In February 2012, President Obama issued his FY 2013 budget proposal. His $59 billion request for the Department of Homeland Security is slightly lower than the enacted level for FY 2012. The President is to be applauded for continuing strong financial investments in…

  • Issue Brief posted March 21, 2012 by Alison Acosta Fraser, Patrick Louis Knudsen The Ryan Budget: Confronting the Nation’s Spending Crisis

    In the few months since Washington’s dramatic debt ceiling confrontation, America’s fiscal situation has only worsened. Federal spending is set to soar past previous record-shattering levels, endangering the economic future of the nation. This is a moral issue because younger generations will be forced to bear either staggering levels of…

  • Issue Brief posted March 20, 2012 by Jessica Zuckerman Federal Flight Deck Officer Program: First Line of Deterrence, Last Line of Defense

    In his fiscal year (FY) 2013 budget proposal for the Department of Homeland Security, President Obama called for a 50 percent cut in funding for the Federal Flight Deck Officer (FFDO) program. Often seen as the last line of defense against the threat of terrorist hijackings and other air piracy,…

  • Backgrounder posted March 19, 2012 by Curtis Dubay Obama FY 2013 Budget Violates Basic Principles of Tax Reform

    Abstract: The current tax code is an enormous burden on the economy, preventing it from reaching its full potential. Tax reform is long overdue. After initial reluctance, President Obama now agrees that the economy needs tax reform. He…

  • Issue Brief posted March 14, 2012 by David Addington Federal Budget: What Congress Must Do to Control Spending and Create Jobs

    As the national debt races toward $17 trillion and nearly 13 million Americans search fruitlessly for work, America needs bold changes from its leaders. Congress must get federal spending and borrowing under control and get out of the way of job creation in the private sector. …

  • Backgrounder posted March 1, 2012 by Baker Spring Obama’s Defense Budget Makes Protecting America its Lowest Priority

    Abstract: Despite Administration claims to the contrary, President Barack Obama’s budget proposal for FY 2013 would reduce national defense to the lowest of the major budget priorities of the federal government. The combination of the budget request and the Budget Control Act of 2011 would reduce the military’s personnel levels…

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Find more work on Federal Budget