An Analysis of the Role of the Budget Committees in the Congressional Budget Process

Congress assumed a more active role in the federal budget process with the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 CBA, legislation which created the House and Senate Budget Committees. during the first years of the CBA, these committees were effective in establishing the budget process. In 1981, they contributed to a dramatic shift in fiscal policy. Consequently, the budget process assumed a magnitude which was beyond the purview of a single set of committees. The remainder of decade was dominated by large coalitions of budget summits, obscuring the role of the Budget Committees. In the mid-1980s, concern over the deficit shifted the focus of the budget process further from the budget Committees. Gramm-Rudman-Hollings legislated deficit totals and instituted the sequester to cut spending when Congress could not. The most recent revision of the budget process is the Budget Enforcement Act of 1990 BEA, which further displaces the Budget Committees. Past trends suggest the BEA will be superseded by legislation which may further diminish the role of the Budget Committees.