The Budget Control Act: Frequently Asked Questions (CRS Report for Congress)
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| Release Date |
Revised Oct. 1, 2019 |
| Report Number |
R44874 |
| Report Type |
Report |
| Authors |
Grant A. Driessen; Megan S. Lynch |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
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Summary:
When there is concern with deficit or debt
levels, Congress will sometimes implement budget
enforcement mechanisms to mandate specific budgetary policies or fiscal outcomes. The Budget
Control Act of 2011
(BCA;
P.L.
112
-
25
), which was signed into law
on A
ugust 2, 2011, includes
several such mechanisms
.
The BCA as amended has three main components that currently affect the annual budget. One
component imposes annual statutory discretionary spending limits for defens
e and
non
defense
spending. A second component requires annual reductions to the initial discretionary spending
limits triggered by the absence of a deficit reduction agreement from a committee formed by the
BCA. Third are annual automatic mandatory spendin
g reductions triggered by the
same
absence
of a deficit reduction agreement. Each of those components is described in further detail in this
report. The discretionary spending limits (and annual reductions) are currently scheduled to
remain in effect throu
gh FY2021, while the mandatory spending reductions are scheduled to
remain in effect through
FY2027
.
Congress may modify or repeal any aspect of the BCA procedures, but such changes require the
enactment of legislation
.
Several pieces of legislation have
c
hanged
the spending limits
or
enforcement procedures included in the BCA
with respect to each year from FY2013 through
FY2017. These include the
American Taxpayer Relief
Act
of 2012 (
ATRA;
P.L. 112
-
240
)
, the
Bipartisan Budget Act
of 2013 (
BBA 2013;
P.L. 113
-
67
,
also
referred to as the Murray
-
Ryan
agreement)
, the
Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 (
BB
A 2015;
P.L. 114
-
74
)
, and the Bipartis
an
Budget Act of 2018 (BBA 2018;
P.L. 115
-
123
)
.
Those laws included changes to the discretionary limits imposed by the BCA that increased
deficits in each year from FY2013
-
FY2019
. No change has been enacted for
FY2020
and beyond,
so the discretionary spending limits for
FY2020 and
FY2021 remain at the level prescribed by the
BCA.
Following enactment of BBA 2018, the
discretionary caps in FY2018 are scheduled to be
approximately $
629
billion for defense activities and $
579
billion for
non
defense activities
—
higher
than the levels of
$551 billion and $519 billion
,
respectively
,
in FY2017. Combined, the
limits for FY2018 are $
13
8
billion
higher
than the FY2017 level.
This report addresses several
frequently asked questions
related to the BCA and the annual
budget.
