Federal Budget Analysis: Budget Process

End the Government Shutdown and Raise the Debt Ceiling

Oct. 10, 2013

Lawmakers’ failure to pass a real budget by Oct. 1, combined with their inability to agree on raising the debt ceiling before Oct. 17, costs our economy billions of dollars and affects millions of Americans with each day that the impasse continues.

Also Includes:


President Obama Proposes 2014 Budget

April 10, 2013

Overview and details of President Obama's 2014 budget proposal, including proposed reductions in Social Security benefits.


Fiscal Year 2014 Pentagon Budget Analysis

April 10, 2013

Overview, highlights, and details of the Pentagon's 2014 budget request.


Competing Visions: President Obama, Rep. Paul Ryan, Sen. Patty Murray, and House Progressives Release Budget Proposals for 2014

March 14, 2013

National Priorities Project examines how new budget proposals stack up against what Americans want.


Sequestration, the Pentagon, and the States

Feb. 21, 2013

Sequestration, the Pentagon, and the States offers selected state-level briefs focused on the local impact of looming automatic across-the-board federal spending cuts known as sequestration and historically high levels of Pentagon spending.


Federal Budget Timeline: Beyond the Fiscal Cliff in 2013

Jan. 9, 2013

The federal budget process is always complicated. This is truer today than perhaps ever before. Over the coming weeks and months Congress will take on issues that will shape our government for years to come.


The Fiscal Cliff Deal

Jan. 2, 2013

At the eleventh hour, Congress and President Obama reached a deal to address the fiscal cliff. The deal focused on tax revenue and included a number of changes to the tax code, including a permanent extension of the Bush-era tax cuts on income below $450,000 for families and below $400,000 for individuals.


What is the Fiscal Cliff? Resources on the Bush Tax Cuts, Sequestration, and the Lame Duck Congress

Nov. 7, 2012

In the coming weeks, Congress will take on the fiscal cliff and make decisions about the Bush tax cuts, the automatic spending cuts known as sequestration, and a host of other tax and spending issues that will affect every American. We've got all the details in plain English so you can follow these important negotiations and tell Congress your priorities.


Competing Visions

March 28, 2012

This week the House of Representatives will consider two significantly different alternatives to the president’s fiscal 2013 budget request— the Republican draft budget resolution, introduced by Rep. Paul Ryan, and an alternative introduced by the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC). The two budgets offer vastly different visions for the nation, and each uses the president’s budget as a baseline to compare their contrasting proposals. Rep. Ryan reduces tax rates as well as spending, finding savings largely from domestic programs that serve low-income people, including Medicaid and the food stamp program. The CPC increases revenues with higher tax rates on wealthy individuals and corporations, while adding substantial new spending for job creation and making few changes to domestic programs.


Primary Stakes

March 5, 2012

The presidential election is about voters’ vision for how the federal government should serve the American people, so National Priorities Project is examining the extent to which residents of key primary states currently rely on federal support. Federal money often comprises a third or more of state budgets, while residents of those states receive thousands of dollars of direct federal assistance from programs ranging from Social Security and Medicare to Pell Grants or unemployment compensation.

Also Includes: