Papers
View our recurring reports, which summarize and analyze the most important regular federal budget releases and reports.
Analysis of the President's FY 2023 Budget
The Biden Administration released its Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 budget proposal today, outlining some of President Biden’s tax and spending priorities...
Q&A: Gross Debt Versus Debt Held by the Public
On January 31, 2022, the federal government's gross debt exceeded $30 trillion for the first time. This mark serves as an important reminder of the...
FACT SHEET: Are Deficits in Decline?
Last month, the federal government ran a surplus of $119 billion, the first monthly surplus since September 2019. The Fiscal Year 2022 deficit is...
The Case for Restoring Discretionary Spending Caps
On February 18, 2022, the current continuing resolution will expire, and legislation will be needed to continue funding the federal government...
Chartbook: Build Back Better for Less
Policymakers are apparently now targeting $1.5 trillion to $2.3 trillion of gross spending increases and tax cuts for their Build Back Better...
Build Back Better for Less: Two Illustrative Packages
Note: We have published a chartbook to accompany this paper. Policymakers are apparently now targeting $1.5 trillion to $2.3 trillion of gross...
Q&A: Everything You Should Know About Government Shutdowns
This paper has been updated here. The new fiscal year (FY) will begin on October 1, 2021, and Congress has so far enacted none of the 12...
Analysis of the 2021 Medicare Trustees' Report
The Social Security and Medicare Trustees released their annual reports on the long-term financial state of those programs. The reports are the first...
Analysis of the 2021 Social Security Trustees' Report
Today, the Social Security and Medicare Trustees released their annual reports on the long-term financial state of the Social Security and Medicare...
Reconciliation 101
What is reconciliation? How do reconciliation instructions work? Can a reconciliation bill add to the budget deficit? What is the “Byrd Rule”? What...
Q&A: Everything You Should Know About the Debt Ceiling
This paper has been updated here. The federal debt ceiling will be reinstated on August 1, 2021, at around $28.5 trillion. At that point, the Treasury...
Injecting Price Competition into Medicare Part B Drugs
Medicare Part B, which covers outpatient physician services, pays for physician-administered drugs by reimbursing physicians the average cost for each...