Downsizing Blog
Congressional Pay for Performance: No Budget, No Pay
Congress misses deadlines regularly and often fails to complete its work.
Fiscal Agenda for Congress
Following a massive bipartisan increase in emergency spending during the COVID-19 pandemic that contributed to inflation reaching a 40‐year high, the 118th Congress should shift fiscal gears.
Automatic Debt Limit Increases: A Fast Track to Fiscal Ruin
Federal debt is too high and growing at an accelerating pace.
Five Things to Know About the Monstrous Lame Duck Omnibus
Just as I predicted back in October, Congress pushed its discretionary spending deadline back by one week, from December 16 to December 23.
Emergency Spending Is on the Rise: Here’s How Congress Can Stop It
Congress has spent a combined $1 trillion through supplemental appropriations over the last five years in inflation‐adjusted 2021 dollars. While most of the supplemental spending since 2020 was in response to COVID-19, supplemental appropriations are on the rise over the long term (chart below).
Fiscal Illusion and Deficit Spending
High and persistent deficits and debt pass a large share of the cost of government spending to future generations.
Five Options to Cut the Deficit
The Congressional Budget Office has released its annual report of options to reduce the budget deficit.
Cutting Federal Spending
Federal spending is soaring, deficits are chronic, and government debt is reaching all‐time highs relative to the size of the economy.
Agricultural Policy
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) spends roughly $30 billion a year on support for farm businesses.
Amtrak
Amtrak was supposed to become self‐supporting after a transition period, but it has never earned a profit and it consumed more than $50 billion in federal subsidies from 1970 to 2020.