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Sequestration Update Report: August 2017 1 (August 11, 2017)

handle is hein.congrec/cbo3659 and id is 1 raw text is: Sequestration Update Report: August 2017 By August 15 of each year, the Congressional Budget Office is required by law to issue a report that provides estimates of the caps on discretionary budget authority in effect for each fiscal year through 2021.1 CBO has slightly revised its estimates of the caps since it issued its previous report on the topic in May.2 But CBO's assess- ment in that earlier report-that discretionary appro- priations for 2017 do not exceed the caps-remains unchanged. Therefore, by CBO's estimates, a sequestra- tion (or cancellation of budgetary resources) will not be required as a result of appropriation actions this year. However, the authority to determine whether a seques- tration is required (and if so, exactly how to make the necessary cuts in budget authority) rests with the Admin- istration's Office of Management and Budget (OMB). That agency, in a sequestration report issued in May, also found that appropriations for 2017 did not exceed the caps-and no appropriations have been enacted since then.3 Limits on Discretionary Budget Authority for 2017 The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 (Public Law 114-74) modified the caps on defense and nondefense funding for fiscal year 2017 that were established by the Budget Con- trol Act of 2011 (P.L. 112-25). Specifically, those limits were reset to total $1,069.6 billion-$551.1 billion 1. Budget authority is the authority provided by law to incur financial obligations that will result in immediate or future outlays of federal government funds. Discretionary budget authority is provided and controlled by appropriation acts. All of the years referred to in this report are federal fiscal years, which run from October 1 to September 30. 2. See Congressional Budget Office, Final Sequestration Reportfor Fiscal Year 2017 (May 2017), www.cbo.gov/publication/52704. 3. See Office of Management and Budget, OMB Final Sequestration Report to the President and Congress /or Fiscal Year 2017 (May 2017), http://go.usa.gov/xRQDt (PDF, 863 KB). for defense programs and $518.5 billion for nondefense programs. By law, however, the caps are adjusted upward when appropriations are provided for certain purposes. Budget authority that is designated as an emergency requirement or provided for overseas contingency operations, such as military activities in Afghanistan, increases the caps, as does budget authority provided for some types of disaster relief (as this report explains below) or for certain program integrity initiatives.4 To date, such adjustments to the caps on discretionary budget authority for 2017 have totaled $118.0 billion (see Table 1). Most of that amount, $82.9 billion, is an increase in the defense cap to account for budget authority provided for overseas contingency operations. The increases in the nondefense cap are $20.8 billion for overseas contingency operations, $8.1 billion for disaster relief, $4.1 billion for emergency funding pri- marily to respond to natural disasters, and $2.0 billion for program integrity initiatives related to Medicare and to the Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security Income programs. As OMB reported in May, incorporating those adjust- ments raised the caps on budget authority for 2017 to $634.0 billion for defense programs and $553.6 billion for nondefense programs-about $1.19 trillion in all. OMB also reported that total appropriations for this year were at or below the caps, and no additional appropria- tions have been made since then. Therefore, at this time, no sequestration will be required. 4. Such initiatives may try to reduce improper benefit payments in the Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security Income programs, Medicare, Medicaid, and the Children's Health Insurance Program.

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