Introduction
Emily Badger and Alicia Parlapiano recently wrote in the New York Times, “Congress and the public simply can’t follow what the Trump administration has done with federal spending.”[1]
The authors make an important point that is not limited to the Trump Administration’s actions. Information about how the federal government spends the taxpayers’ money is rarely timely, reliable, or understandable.
Transparency is essential for the policymaking process to function. The availability of accurate and timely information is also necessary for the accountability that is necessary in a representative democracy. Without it, the Legislative Branch is unable to perform some of its core functions.
The need for transparency in the budgetary process is reflected in Article I, Section 9, Clause 7 of the Constitution, which requires that “a regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be published from time to time.”
President Thomas Jefferson wrote to his Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin about the importance of making the budget transparent and understandable:
I think it an object of great importance, to be kept in view, and to be undertaken at a fit season, to simplify our system of finance, and bring it within the comprehension of every member of Congress. Hamilton set out on a different plan. In order that he might have the entire government of his machine, he determined so to complicate it as that neither the President or Congress should be able to understand it, or to control him. He succeeded in doing this, not only beyond their reach, but so that he at length could not unravel it himself…
We might hope to see the finances of the Union as clear and intelligible as a merchant’s books, so that every member of Congress, and every man of any mind in the Union should be able to comprehend them, to investigate abuses, and consequently to control them.
Our predecessors have endeavored by intricacies of system, and shuffling the investigator over from one officer to another, to cover every thing from detection. I hope we shall go in the contrary direction and that by your honest and judicious reformations we may be able, within the limits of our time to bring things back to that simple & intelligible system on which they should have been organised at first.[2]
Reforms in recent years have improved transparency. However, information made available by the government to the public and lawmakers is certainly not “as clear and intelligible as a merchant’s books” as Jefferson desired. To the contrary, it is often of unacceptably low quality in our age of artificial intelligence and open-source software.
This report covers key sources of budget data, the limitations facing lawmakers and the public, and policy recommendations to improve transparency and accountability.
Key Sources of Budget Data
There are several key sources of budget data available from official government sources. Data covering historical, ongoing, and future fiscal operations is available from both Executive and Legislative Branch sources.
Historical Budget Data
Historical budget data is often readily available, particularly aggregate topline totals from prior fiscal years.
The Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) Historical Tables are an important source of useful information.[3] They are released annually in conjunction with the President’s budget request. The OMB Historical Tables are provided as a downloadable Excel spreadsheet (or multiple downloadable spreadsheets with individual tables). The fiscal year (FY) 2026 version of the Historical Tables provides 57 different tables in 16 categories. Data is provided on a fiscal year basis, dating to the 1960s (and in some instances as far back as the 1930s).[4] The OMB Historical Tables include a wide variety of data, including summary totals in nominal terms, as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP), and in inflation-adjusted dollars. They also include more detailed presentations, such as various budget categories, payments to individuals, and grants to state and local governments.
Historical, account-level budget data is available in OMB’s Public Budget Database, usually released with the President’s budget request.[5] The Public Budget Database was not included in the most recent partial budget request for FY 2026, so the most recent available data was released in March 2024. The Public Budget Database includes three downloadable Excel spreadsheets covering historical budget authority, outlays, and receipts. Account-level data is available dating to FY 1962 for outlays and receipts and FY 1976 for budget authority.
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) also publishes downloadable tables of historical budget and economic data.[6] However, the historical budget data available from the CBO is much more limited than what is published by the OMB. The CBO’s data is only available back to FY 1962 and is only presented in summary totals and by major budget categories. The historical economic data published by the CBO is much more robust. The economic data dates to 1949 and is organized by fiscal year, calendar year, and on a quarterly basis.
Historical economic data is also readily available on the Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED) database, a valuable resource that compiles thousands of time series from U.S. Government, international, and private sources.[7] FRED also includes a limited number of budgetary datasets covering topline figures.
Financial Report of the United States Government
The Financial Report of the United States Government is published annually by the Treasury Department to provide a “comprehensive view of the federal government’s financial position and condition.”[8] The accounting standards used in the Financial Report differ from the budget concepts normally used by Congress and OMB. While budget outlays and revenues are recorded on a cash basis, in the Financial Report, costs are counted on an accrual basis (when they are incurred, but not necessarily when paid) and revenues are counted on a modified cash basis.
The information in the Financial Report provides a long-term picture of the federal government’s liabilities and assets. For example, it includes federally owned real property and equipment as assets. The Financial Report also shows the present value of unfunded obligations of Social Security and Medicare programs.
Treasury’s Daily and Monthly Statements
For those wanting to track the budgetary situation throughout the fiscal year, the Treasury Department’s Daily and Monthly Statements provide useful data.
The Monthly Treasury Statement (MTS) provides a summary of the budgetary picture through the most recent month.[9] The budget concepts reported in the MTS will be familiar and accessible to Congressional audiences. The MTS shows revenues and outlays basis for major budget accounts, agencies, and aggregate totals.
The Daily Treasury Statement (DTS) is published each afternoon, providing a snapshot of fiscal activity from the prior day.[10] The DTS begins with the total operating cash balance in the Treasury General Account at the New York Fed, which is the federal government’s liquid cash on hand available to pay obligations. The DTS also shows the day’s deposits and withdrawals of operating cash and reports on debt transactions and other factors that affect the debt limit.[11]
The Penn Wharton Budget Model has used the Daily Treasury Statement reports to create a Real-Time Federal Budget Tracker, which can compare year-to-date budget line items to the same point in previous calendar years.[12]
Downloadable data for the MTS and DTS are available from the Bureau of the Fiscal Service’s Fiscal Data platform. Fiscal Data also includes several other datasets related to debt, spending, and revenues.[13]
Status of Appropriations
The status of budgetary resources in appropriations accounts is reported on the Standard Form (SF) 133 Report on Budget Execution and Budgetary Resources.[14] The SF 133 reports are published by OMB based on data submitted by individual agencies.[15]
The SF 133 reports are updated throughout the year, although there is a lag in the reporting. For example, the reporting window for agencies to submit information for September 2025 was open from October 6 to October 20. The final report for unobligated balances through the end of FY 2025 was made available on October 21, 2025.
OMB publishes Excel spreadsheets for each agency that provide details of the budgetary resources at the account level. These files show the budget authority, obligations incurred, and outlays by month.
Congressional staff who are interested in finding budget authority that can be rescinded may find the “Analysis of Available, Unobligated Balances in Executive Branch Agencies” files most useful. These reports have been published as PDFs, but more recently have been made available as sortable Excel spreadsheets. These reports show the unobligated balances in each account that are possible to rescind.
Apportionment
Apportionment is the process by which the OMB regulates the funding provided to agencies in appropriations bills. Through apportionment, the OMB approves a spending plan for each appropriation, releasing funds throughout the fiscal year like an allowance for the agencies. The purpose of apportionment is to ensure that agency spending does not exceed its available budget authority.
The FY 2022 Consolidated Appropriations Act[16] and the FY 2023 Consolidated Appropriations Act[17] required the OMB establish and maintain a new publicly available database of apportionment documents. The database is available online.[18]
In March 2025, the Trump Administration temporarily removed the database from the OMB’s website, stating that publishing apportionment documents requires the “disclosure of sensitive, predecisional, and deliberative information,” including information related to national security. The database was restored following a court order.[19]
Prior to the 2022 law, apportionment information was generally not available to the public or Congress. The public disclosure of apportionment documents is a positive step towards transparency.
Unfortunately, the apportionment database is not user-friendly. The database consists of downloadable Excel and JSON files, each with an ambiguous filename. Users must download files individually, and the documents can be difficult to interpret.
A non-governmental organization has used the OMB’s apportionment files to create a more user-friendly online database.[20]
Transfers and Reprogramming
Congress often provides the Executive Branch flexibility to move budget authority and to obligate funds for purposes other than those specified in the original appropriation. Transfer authority allows budget authority to be shifted from one budget account to another account. Reprogramming is a type of transfer that shifts budgetary resources within a single budget account.
Appropriations bills frequently provide transfer or reprogramming authority to agencies. This can take many different forms. Sometimes an appropriations bill can provide broad authority (for example, the FY 2024 appropriations bill for the Small Business Administration permits up to 5 percent of funds provided to each SBA account to be transferred to other SBA accounts). Other times, an appropriations bill may explicitly require certain funds to be transferred. Transfer and reprogramming authority are often contingent upon reporting to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees.
It can be difficult for the public to track transfers and reprogramming in real time. There is no centralized database that shows all transfers and reprogrammings in one location. The apportionment documents do show transfers, either as an addition to available budget authority when funds are transferred in, or as a subtraction when funds are transferred out. The apportionment documents do not always specify which account the transfer came from or went to, or the underlying law that provided the authority for the transfer. Transfers are also recorded on the SF 133 Reports on Budget Execution and Budgetary Resources.
USAspending
According to the U.S. Department of the Treasury, “USAspending.gov is the official source for spending data for the U.S. Government.”[21]
The genesis for USAspending was the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (FFATA), which required most federal contracts, grants, loans, and other awards to be published online. Those requirements were updated by the Government Funding Transparency Act of 2008 and the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act (DATA Act) of 2014.
USAspending includes data down to the individual award, grant, and contract level. The award data aggregate up to the budget account and agency level. This makes USAspending particularly valuable for understanding the organizations, businesses, and state and local governments that receive funding from the federal government. The database can also track outlays by location, showing awards by state, county, or Congressional district. Users should exercise caution, as the database can suffer from incomplete information, including missing reporting from agencies, lack of data on subgrantees, or duplicative recipient profiles.
However, the general public should not use USAspending to understand or track the federal budget. The site currently reports that FY 2025 spending totaled more than $10.3 trillion.[22] This figure is incorrect by trillions of dollars; actual net outlays for FY 2025 totaled $7 trillion. Part of the issue is that USAspending can report obligations (promises to spend at some point in the future) rather than outlays (actual expenditures from the Treasury).
Figure 1
Source: USAspending
Federal Program Inventory
The Federal Program Inventory was created by the OMB in 2024.[23] This database includes more than 2,600 federal programs and tax expenditures in the federal budget. For each program, it includes information such as the authorizing statutes, relevant regulations in the Code of Federal Regulations, eligible beneficiaries and applicants, and data on obligations and outlays.
The database was required by the Government Performance and Results Act Modernization Act of 2010 (GPRAMA)[24] and the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2021.[25]
As the Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported in 2023 prior to the establishment of the Federal Program Inventory, “The federal government spends trillions of dollars each year on various programs. However, it does not have an inventory of all federal programs — despite the fact that it has been required to have one available on a public website since 2011.”[26]
Unfortunately, the Federal Program Inventory includes a methodological error by treating “tax expenditures” as spending programs. The database includes $1.8 trillion in “expenditures” attributable to 174 tax expenditures in FY 2024, drawing from the Treasury’s report on tax expenditures.[27] The cost of these tax expenditures is recorded as the sum of outlays and revenue losses.
There are several problems with including tax policies in the Federal Program Inventory in the same way as spending programs.
- First, reductions in revenue are not equivalent to federal outlays. The GAO defines an “expenditure” as “the actual spending of money; an outlay.” The term “tax expenditure” is defined as a “revenue loss attributable to a provision of the federal tax laws” that provides a special exclusion, exemption, deduction, rate, or deferral from the otherwise normal tax liability. [28]
- Counting reductions in revenue as expenditures means that the Federal Program Inventory’s reported total of expenditures is incorrect. While the Inventory reports $7.7 trillion of expenditures in FY 2024, actual outlays totaled $6.8 trillion. (Because the difference between reported expenditures and actual outlays is smaller than the $1.8 trillion of tax expenditures included, which implies the database also omits some spending programs.)
- Even if some do mistakenly believe that reductions in revenue due to deductions or credits are equivalent to spending, it would only make sense to count tax policies that deviate from an economically neutral baseline. However, the Treasury uses a flawed definition of tax expenditures that mistakenly includes tax policies that remove distortions in the tax code.[29]
- Finally, the data used by the Federal Program Inventory for tax expenditures is not accurate. It pulls from the Treasury’s estimates for the upcoming fiscal year that is released in conjunction with the President’s budget request. These estimates are based on the President’s proposed policy recommendations and economic assumptions, both of which can be very different from actual results. The Inventory lists the costs of many tax expenditures for FY 2025 despite the fact that tax returns for 2025 will not be filed until next year. The latest actual data available from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) tax statistics are from tax year 2022.[30]
Data About Improper Payments
The Payment Integrity Information Act of 2019 (PIIA) requires agencies to report information about improper payments to the OMB.[31] An improper payment is a payment made by the government that should not have been made or that was made in the wrong amount. The Department of the Treasury has used these reports to create a database of improper payments made for certain programs at PaymentAccuracy.gov.[32] At this website, users can view scorecards sorted by agency and program. Users can also download Excel spreadsheets that include the full improper payment datasets. It is important to note that the federal government does not track all programs’ improper payments, and those that are tracked can be reported inconsistently. Consequently, actual improper payments are likely higher than reported.
Data for Baseline Budget Projections
The budget baseline provides a benchmark against which to measure legislative proposals. The CBO baseline consists of projections of revenues and outlays for the current year and the next decade (covering the 10-year budget window). These projections incorporate a forecast of economic variables.
The CBO baseline is the most widely recognized source for projections about the budget for future years. The baseline is released as part of the CBO’s Budget and Economic Report.[33] The Budget and Economic Report is required to be released annually by February 15 and is typically updated multiple times per year.
The CBO baseline is often described as reflecting current law, but this is a myth. The law governing the construction of the baseline requires CBO to include four deviations from current law in its baseline: three that make spending look much higher and one that makes revenues look slightly higher than they would actually be if Congress made no further changes in law.[34]
The CBO also periodically publishes what it calls alternative fiscal scenarios, which often include a current policy baseline that assumes tax cuts are extended and certain spending policies are continued.
The CBO baseline includes a wealth of information, such as projections for budget and economic data. Of particular note is the downloadable Excel spreadsheet that includes the 10-year budget projections showing aggregate topline data and summaries for major budget categories. Also noteworthy are the Excel files providing detailed revenue projections and the spending projections by budget account.[35]
The CBO also releases additional details about the baseline projections for major spending programs, often including information such as estimates for the number of individuals affected and benefit payment amounts.[36]
The President’s budget request also includes fiscal policy projections. Materials transmitted by the OMB with the President’s budget include two different types of projections: estimates of the President’s policy proposals and a baseline.
Most of the budget data that covers the current and future fiscal years will incorporate the fiscal effects of the President’s policy proposals as well as the projected economic effects of those policies.
Along with the President’s budget request, individual agencies will release Congressional budget justifications. These budget justifications include numerous details about agency operations that are required by the House and Senate Appropriations Committees to prepare annual funding bills. The budget justifications can be found on the websites of individual agencies.
The OMB also publishes a “current services” baseline.[37] This baseline does not include the President’s policy priorities. The current services baseline generally follows similar rules as the CBO’s baseline, with some modifications. Most importantly, the OMB current services baseline uses “post-policy” economic assumptions, meaning it is based on the same economic assumptions that form the President’s budget request. Because the CBO and the OMB use different baselines, apples-to-apples comparisons between the President’s budget request and the CBO baseline are difficult.
The current services baseline was not published with the partial FY 2026 budget request. The most recent OMB current services baseline was published as a part of the Analytical Perspectives volume of the FY 2025 budget request, including a PDF document describing the baseline and two downloadable Excel spreadsheets with additional tables.
Cost Estimates for Legislative Proposals
The potential changes to revenues, outlays, and budget authority for legislative proposals are reported in cost estimates. They are measured relative to the official CBO baseline. The CBO and the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) are the official Congressional cost estimating agencies. The CBO is required to produce a cost estimate for each bill reported by a Congressional committee.[38] The JCT is charged with evaluating tax legislation for the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee. The Congressional Budget Act requires the CBO to incorporate the JCT’s estimates of tax proposals into its cost estimates. CBO[39] and JCT[40] cost estimates can be found on the websites of the respective agencies.
Policy Recommendations to Improve Transparency
Important steps have been taken by both the Executive and Legislative Branches to improve transparency in recent years. However, additional improvements should be made by the OMB, the Treasury Department, the CBO, and the JCT to expand and enhance the availability and usability of accurate and timely budget information. Given the limitations in existing data sources, reforms outlined below would help improve transparency and accountability.
Standardize Budget Concepts Across Agencies to Accurately Report Data
It should go without saying that the data reported by federal government agencies should be accurate. However, major agencies have failed this basic test. Problems in reporting budget data can arise when Executive Branch agencies misrepresent data in ways that conflict with the widely accepted budgetary concepts.[41]
For example, both USAspending and the Federal Program Inventory incorrectly report the level of total federal spending. These public-facing databases were created to provide transparency and accurate reporting on the federal budget. They are respectively run by the Treasury Department and the OMB, two key institutions charged with overseeing the federal budget. Nevertheless, USAspending claims that total federal spending is trillions of dollars higher than it actually is. The Federal Program Inventory incorrectly counts tax reductions as spending, overstating total expenditures.
There is general agreement among the official scorekeepers (the House and Senate Budget Committees, the CBO, and the OMB) about the concepts and definitions of terms that govern the budget process.[42] As disagreements and errors in concepts and definitions arise, such as the flawed definition of tax expenditures, they should be quickly addressed. Eliminating the distortions in the official baseline that bias the budget process towards higher spending and taxes is crucial.[43]
The Director of the OMB should issue guidance requiring all agencies to remain consistent with the agreed-upon budget concepts and terminology. Agencies should be required by the OMB to ensure the data they report is accurate.
Require Apportionment Data Transparency
The FY 2022 and 2023 appropriations laws required the OMB to make apportionment data available publicly. While OMB may technically be complying with the requirement by posting raw data files, the database is not intuitive to navigate.
As a next step, the OMB should be required to make the data user-friendly and easy to understand. If a non-governmental organization can build a useful apportionment database, the OMB should be able to do so as well.[44]
Require Transparency on Unobligated Balances of Appropriations
The OMB currently provides SF 133 Reports on Budget Execution and Budgetary Resources by budgetary account. However, this data can be out of date and lack crucial details for policymakers. The reporting windows for submitting the data remain open for several weeks after each month, meaning that by the time the information becomes available to Congress and the public, it is already out of date.[45]
The OMB should provide detailed real-time reporting on the balances of budgetary accounts, including the amount of original budget authority provided, the amount obligated, the amount unobligated, and the amount expended. This should include details about the laws that provided the budget authority, when the funding was first provided, and when the budget authority expires.
Require Transparency on Reprogramming and Transfers
Transfers and reprogramming of appropriations can be recorded on SF 133 Reports and apportionment documents. However, there is no centralized way to allow Congress and the public to track budget authority that is moved after Congress provides it in appropriations laws.
The OMB should be required to create a database that reports on transfers and reprogramming in real time, including the accounts from which funds are taken and to which they are transferred. Each instance should also cite the specific legal authority to carry out the transfer or reprogramming, and whether a notice to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees was made.
The President’s budget request should also be required to include a report on transfers and reprogramming carried out by the Administration in past years, as well as an estimate of transfers and reprogramming the Administration anticipates for the current and budget years.
Maintain a Central Database of Congressional Budget Justifications
The Congressional budget justifications provide vital information for the House and Senate Appropriations Committees as they review the proposals for funding each agency. The OMB should maintain a centralized database of budget justifications to improve ease of access.
While ensuring that any information necessary and requested by each of the appropriations subcommittees is provided in the relevant agency budget documents, the OMB should attempt to make budget justification data downloadable and machine readable. The database should include information from prior years’ justifications to allow comparisons over time.
Require a Report on the Cost of Enacted Legislation Each Fiscal Year
The President should provide a report to Congress on the costs of legislation enacted during each fiscal year. The report should be transmitted within two weeks of the conclusion of the fiscal year to provide timely information (coinciding with the Treasury’s Monthly Statement for September). The report should include levels of discretionary spending and a review of enacted legislation that changes revenues and direct (mandatory) spending programs. The report should also include the costs of regulations and other executive actions. Importantly, the report must be based on the actual costs, not just the estimates of legislation made prior to enactment.
Expand Transparency by the Official Congressional Scorekeeping Agencies
The CBO and the JCT serve Congress by providing analysis independently from the Executive Branch. To accomplish this mission, it is essential that Congress and the public have faith in the methodology by which the CBO and the JCT produce their estimates and reports. An important way to improve trust in the Congressional scorekeepers is by increasing transparency.
In response to mounting criticism by Members of Congress and the public, the CBO has taken steps to increase transparency in recent years. The CBO has disclosed additional data, published working papers explaining methodology and assumptions, and conducted selected analyses of previous cost estimates.[46] Of particular note are the source code for a limited number of models that have been posted on the CBO’s GitHub page.[47] Despite this progress, more can be done.
By contrast, the JCT has not undertaken similar efforts to promote transparency. Concerns from Members of Congress about the lack of transparency from the tax estimators have persisted for decades. Legislation mandating more disclosure from the JCT was first introduced 35 years ago.[48]
Part of the difference between the JCT and the CBO may be traced to the organic statutes that established and govern the two scorekeeping agencies. While the Budget Act does generally promote disclosure and public access to the CBO’s work,[49] such requirements do not exist in law to the same extent for the JCT. Because of the lack of disclosure, it has been said that tax policy is developed in a “secret chamber” rather than the public square.[50] Yet, the JCT is responsible for all estimates relating to revenues – a critical component of any budget plan.
Increase Transparency for Cost Estimates and Modeling
Congress should require the CBO and the JCT to publish detailed descriptions of how they produce cost estimates, including assumptions, behavioral modeling, data inputs, and methodologies. When possible, cost estimates should include supplemental tables and information showing the inputs to the calculations that produce estimated changes in outlays and revenues. A reasonable goal should be to provide sufficient transparency so independent sources could replicate cost estimates.
The CBO Show Your Work Act, introduced by Rep. Warren Davidson (R-OH-08), would require the CBO to publish models used for cost estimates.[51] This legislation should be expanded to also cover the JCT.
Audit the CBO and the JCT
While the CBO is subject to a financial audit, its operations have not faced independent outside scrutiny in its 50-year history. The CBO does have two panels of outside advisors that provide perspectives on economic and health issues, but they are not a substitute for operational audits.[52] The CBO’s and the JCT’s practices, methodology, modeling, assumptions, and forecasts should be regularly audited to provide an objective review and assessment by technical experts.
Modernize Public Access to CBO Budget Data Requirements
The CBO has been a leader in providing information online, including using different accessible file formats. Unfortunately, the laws governing the public’s access to budget data are stuck in the 1970s.
Sec. 203 of the Budget Act provides for “Public Access to Budget Data.” However, the specific requirements placed on the CBO reflect a time when individuals had to go to an office in person to create a copy of a physical document. The law does not consider the opportunities and challenges of our modern information age. These requirements should be modernized and future-proofed.
Improve CBO’s Account Level Baseline Reporting
The CBO’s baseline projections of budget authority and outlays for each budget account are a valuable data resource. The downloadable files could be improved by allowing users to filter and sort based on various criteria, such as agency or budget function. Additional information about each account could also be provided, such as the relevant House and Senate committees of jurisdiction.
CBO Should Provide Historical Data at the Budget Account Level
The CBO should publish historical budget data at the account level to allow comparisons between historical and projected levels for the same account. This would be useful for Congressional audiences who are familiar with the CBO’s formatting and presentation of budgetary data.
CBO Should Be Transparent About Report Scheduling
The Congressional Budget Office Scheduling Reform Act would require the CBO to publish a schedule for the publication of major recurring reports, including the Budget and Economic Report, options to reduce the deficit, and the unauthorized appropriations report.[53]
Make Appropriations Cost Estimates Available and Make Appropriations Comparative Tables Machine Readable
A loophole in Section 402 of the Budget Act carves out bills reported by the Appropriations Committees from the requirement that the CBO prepare cost estimates for legislation reported by other committees. Requiring full cost estimates on appropriations bills from Congress’s non-partisan official scorekeeper would be an important step towards transparency and uniformity in understanding the fiscal implications of spending legislation.[54]
The appropriations loophole does not prohibit the CBO from conducting analyses of appropriations bills. In fact, the CBO has disclosed that it “provides detailed reports showing estimates of the discretionary budget authority provided and the outlays that would occur in that year, including the estimated budgetary effects of provisions that make changes in mandatory programs,” including “account-level details.”[55]
While they do not include all the details that are included in CBO’s analysis, the comparative tables in the committee report and joint explanatory materials that accompany appropriations bills provide important information. These tables often compare the budget authority provided in the bill to the President’s budget request and the prior year enacted level for each account. Unfortunately, these tables are not uniform and are embedded in large PDF reports. The comparative tables should be standardized, separately downloadable, and machine readable. They should include all useful information such as budget account identifiers and classifications.
Transparency Is Necessary to Control the Budget
Transparency and ready access to reliable budget data are vital for meaningful oversight and informed public debate.
After improvements in recent years, policymakers and the public can draw on an array of information, including historical and account-level tables, execution data on appropriations and apportionment, and forward-looking projections. However, data is often outdated, inconsistent, and difficult to access or use.
Reforms implemented by the OMB, the Treasury Department, the CBO, and the JCT would expand and improve the availability and usability of accurate and timely budget information. These steps would give Congress and the public a better picture of how much the federal government spends and on what the taxpayers’ money is spent.
As President Jefferson said more than 200 years ago, every American should be able to comprehend the government’s finances, investigate abuses, and consequently control the budget.
[1] Emily Badger and Alicia Parlapiano, “Not Even Congress Knows How Much Money DOGE Cut,” New York Times, October 11, 2025, https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/11/upshot/congress-doge-cuts-mystery.html (accessed October 15, 2025).
[2] “Thomas Jefferson to Albert Gallatin, 1 April 1802,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-37-02-0132 (accessed November 17, 2025). [Original source: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, vol. 37, 4 March–30 June 1802, ed. Barbara B. Oberg. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2010, pp. 157–159.]
[3] Office of Management and Budget, “Historical Tables”, https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/information-resources/budget/historical-tables/ (accessed October 15, 2025).
[4] The OMB historical tables show a TQ line between FY 1976 and FY 1977. This represents the Transition Quarter that occurred in calendar year 1976, when the beginning of the fiscal year was moved from July 1 to October 1.
[5] Office of Management and Budget, “Budget FY 2025 – Public Budget Database, Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2025,” March 11, 2024, https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/BUDGET-2025-DB/context (accessed November 13, 2025).
[6] Congressional Budget Office, “Key Budget and Economic Data,” https://www.cbo.gov/data/budget-economic-data (accessed November 12, 2025).
[7] Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, “FRED,” https://fred.stlouisfed.org/ (accessed December 8, 2025).
[8] U.S. Department of the Treasury, “Financial Report of the United States Government,” January 16, 2025, https://www.fiscal.treasury.gov/reports-statements/financial-report/current-report.html (accessed November 20, 2025).
[9] U.S. Department of the Treasury, “Monthly Treasury Statement (MTS),” Bureau of the Fiscal Service, https://fiscaldata.treasury.gov/datasets/monthly-treasury-statement/summary-of-receipts-outlays-and-the-deficit-surplus-of-the-u-s-government (accessed November 12, 2025).
[10] U.S. Department of the Treasury, “Daily Treasury Statement (DTS),” Bureau of the Fiscal Service, https://fiscaldata.treasury.gov/datasets/daily-treasury-statement/operating-cash-balance (accessed November 12, 2025).
[11] Note that “deposits” are not precisely the same concept as “revenues” or “receipts.” Deposits can include offsetting collections, which are recorded as negative outlays in the budget.
[12] Penn Wharton Budget Model, “Real-Time Federal Budget Tracker,” https://budgetmodel.wharton.upenn.edu/issues/2025/4/3/real-time-federal-budget-tracker (accessed November 12, 2025).
[13] U.S. Department of the Treasury, “FiscalData.Treasury.gov Datasets,” Bureau of the Fiscal Service, https://fiscaldata.treasury.gov/datasets/ (accessed November 20, 2025).
[14] Office of Management and Budget, “MAX Information and Reports (Executive, Legislative, and Judicial Users) : SF 133 Report on Budget Execution and Budgetary Resources,” https://portal.max.gov/portal/document/SF133/Budget/FACTS%20II%20-%20SF%20133%20Report%20on%20Budget%20Execution%20and%20Budgetary%20Resources.html (accessed October 23, 2025).
[15] Guidance for agencies on SF 133 reporting can be found in the Circular A-11. Office of Management and Budget, “Section 130—SF 133, Report on Budget Execution and Budgetary Resources,” OMB Circular No. A-11 (2025), https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/s130.pdf (accessed November 20, 2025).
[16] Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022, Public Law 117-103.
[17] Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, Public Law 117-328.
[18] Office of Management and Budget, “Approved Apportionment,” https://apportionment-public.max.gov/ (accessed October 16, 2025).
[19] Citizens for Responsibility & Ethics in Washington v. Office of Management and Budget, No. 1:25-cv-01051 (D.D.C. July 21, 2025) (mem. op.), ECF No. 33, https://ecf.dcd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/show_public_doc?2025cv1051-33 (accessed October 16, 2025).
[20] Protect Democracy Project, “OpenOMB,” https://openomb.org/ (accessed October 16, 2025).
[21] U.S. Department of the Treasury, “USAspending.gov,” Bureau of the Fiscal Service, USAspending.gov (accessed November 11, 2025).
[22] U.S. Department of Treasury, “USAspending.gov,” Bureau of the Fiscal Service, USAspending.gov (accessed November 20, 2025).
[23] Office of Management and Budget, “Federal Program Inventory,” https://fpi.omb.gov/ (accessed November 11, 2025).
[24] GPRA Modernization Act of 2010, P.L. 111-352.
[25] Sec. 9601 of William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021, P.L. 116-283.
[26] Government Accountability Office, “Approaches to Help Create a Useful Inventory,” GAO-23-106272, January 24, 2023, https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-23-106272 (accessed November 11, 2025).
[27] U.S. Department of the Treasury, “Tax Expenditures,” Office of Tax Analysis, March 6, 2023, https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/131/Tax-Expenditures-FY2024-update.pdf (accessed November 11, 2025).
[28] Government Accountability Office, “A Glossary of Terms Used in the Federal Budget Process,” GAO-05-734SP, September 1, 2005, https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-05-734sp (accessed November 11, 2025).
[29] Adam Michel, “Reforming the 1974 Budget Act’s Definition of Tax Expenditure,” Cato Institute, July 27, 2023, https://www.cato.org/blog/reforming-1974-budget-acts-definition-tax-expenditure (accessed November 11, 2025).
[30] Internal Revenue Service, “Tax statistics,” https://www.irs.gov/statistics (accessed November 11, 2025).
[31] Payment Integrity Information Act of 2019, P.L. 116-117.
[32] U.S. Department of the Treasury, “PaymentAccuracy,” https://www.paymentaccuracy.gov/ (accessed December 8, 2025).
[33] Congressional Budget Office, “Major Recurring Reports,” https://www.cbo.gov/about/products/major-recurring-reports#1 (accessed November 13, 2025).
[34] The four deviations include the assumptions that 1) discretionary appropriations continue and grow with inflation each year; 2) certain direct spending programs larger than $50 million extend beyond their statutory expiration; 3) entitlement programs make all scheduled benefit payments, even if a program’s trust fund and financing is inadequate to do so; and 4) excise taxes dedicated to a trust fund continue beyond their statutory expiration. Matthew Dickerson, “The Myth of the Current Law Baseline,” Economic Policy Innovation Center, November 28, 2023, https://epicforamerica.org/federal-budget/the-myth-of-the-current-law-baseline-keeping-spending-high-is-a-policy-choice/.
[35] Congressional Budget Office, “Key Budget and Economic Data,” https://www.cbo.gov/data/budget-economic-data (accessed November 21, 2025).
[36] Congressional Budget Office, “Details About Baseline Projections for Selected Programs,” https://www.cbo.gov/data/baseline-projections-selected-programs (accessed November 13, 2025).
[37] Office of Management and Budget, “Budget FY 2025 – Analytical Perspectives, Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2025,” March 11, 2024, https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/BUDGET-2025-PER/context (accessed November 13, 2025).
[38] Much could be said about cost estimates, although they are not the primary focus of this report.
[39] Congressional Budget Office, “Cost Estimates,” https://www.cbo.gov/cost-estimates (accessed December 8, 2025).
[40] Joint Committee on Taxation, “Publications,” https://www.jct.gov/publications/ (accessed December 8, 2025).
[41] Budget concepts refer to the foundational rules for defining, classifying, measuring, and presenting transactions made by the federal government. See David M. Kennedy et. al., “Report of the President’s Commission on Budget Concepts,” October 10, 1967, https://budgetcounsel.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/report_of_the_presidents_commission_on_budget_concepts.pdf (accessed November 17, 2025).
[42] The official Scorekeeping Guidelines were set forth in the conference report for the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 and included in OMB Circular A-11. Office of Management and Budget, “Appendix A—Scorekeeping Guidelines,” OMB Circular No. A-11, 2025, https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/app_a.pdf (accessed November 20, 2025).
[43] Matthew Dickerson, “How The Budget Baseline Is Biased,” Economic Policy Innovation Center, January 21, 2025, https://epicforamerica.org/federal-budget/how-the-budget-baseline-is-biased/.
[44] Protect Democracy Project, “OpenOMB,” https://openomb.org/ (accessed October 16, 2025).
[45] U.S. Department of the Treasury, “FY 2026 GTAS Reporting Window Schedule,” https://fiscal.treasury.gov/files/gtas/fy-2026-reporting-window-schedule.pdf (accessed November 20, 2025).
[46] Congressional Budget Office, “Transparency,” https://www.cbo.gov/about/transparency (accessed December 8, 2025).
[47] Congressional Budget Office, “Advanced Models and Details,” https://www.cbo.gov/models/details (accessed December 8, 2025).
[48] Tax Policy Freedom of Information and Sunshine Act of 1990, S. 3243, 101st Cong., 2nd Sess.
[49] See, for example, Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act Of 1974, Public Law 93–344, Sec. 203.
[50] Dan R. Mastromarco, David R. Burton, and William W. Beach, eds., The Secret Chamber or the Public Square, (Washington, DC: The Heritage Foundation, 2005), p. 65.
[51] CBO Show Your Work Act, H.R. 724, 119th Congress, 1st. sess.
[52] The CBO Economic and Health panels of advisers should also be strengthened and reformed to clarify their responsibilities and ensure diverse viewpoints.
[53] Congressional Budget Office Scheduling Reform Act, H.R. 6140 (119th Congress).
[54] Matthew Dickerson, “Appropriations Transparency Act Would Provide Vital Sunlight on Spending Bills,” Economic Policy Innovation Center, March 8, 2024, https://epicforamerica.org/federal-budget/appropriations-transparency-act-would-provide-vital-sunlight-on-spending-bills/.
[55] Congressional Budget Office, “CBO Describes Its Cost-Estimating Process,” April 18, 2023, https://www.cbo.gov/publication/59003 (accessed November 20, 2025).
