Budget Issues: Budget Enforcement Compliance Report

This report responds to your request that we assess compliance by the Office of Management and Budget OMB and the Congressional Budget Office CBO with the requirements of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, as amended the Deficit Control Act. Our assessment covers OMB and CBO reports issued for legislation enacted during the 1st session of the 106th Congress, which ended on November 22,1999. According to CBOs Final Sequestration Report issued on December 2, 1999, discretionary outlays for all spending categories combined are estimated to exceed the spending limits by 16.6 billion for fiscal year 2000. CBO estimated that a 4 percent sequestration would be required for the Overall Discretionary category. In contrast, OMBs Final Sequestration Report, issued on January 25, 2000, estimated than no sequestration of discretionary spending will be required for fiscal year 2000. Since by law OMBs estimates are controlling, there will be no sequester in fiscal year 2000.