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1 Sequestration Update Report: August 2020 1 (August 13, 2020)

handle is hein.congrec/stnudert0001 and id is 1 raw text is: ~AUGUST 20 0 Sequestration Update Report: August 2020 By August 15 of each year, the Congressional Budget Office is required to publish its estimates of the limits (often called caps) on discretionary budget authority that were established under the Budget Control Act of 2011 (Public Law 112-25) and that remain in effect through fiscal year 2021.1 CBO also must report whether, according to its estimates, enacted legislation for the current fiscal year has exceeded the caps and thus will trigger a cancellation of budgetary resources, known as a sequestration. In CBO's estimation, a sequestration will not be required for 2020. However, the authority to make that determination-and, if so, how to cut budget authority- rests with the Administration's Office of Management and Budget (OMB), which reported in January that appropri- ations for 2020 had not exceeded the caps.2 Although additional appropriations totaling an esti- mated $503 billion have been made since January, they were designated as emergency requirements, one of the categories of funding that cannot breach a cap. By law, the caps are adjusted upward when an appropriation is 1. Budget authority is the authority provided by law to incur financial obligations that will result in immediate or future outlays of federal funds. Discretionary budget authority is provided and controlled by appropriation acts. 2. See Office of Management and Budget, OMB Final Sequestration Report to the President and Congress for Fiscal Year 2020 (January 2020), https://go.usa.gov/xUwaB. provided as an emergency requirement or to fund over- seas contingency operations (such as military activities in Afghanistan). The caps also can be raised to accommo- date budget authority provided for some types of disaster relief, the 2020 census, wildfire suppression, or certain program integrity initiatives.3 Limits on Discretionary Budget Authority for 2020 The Budget Control Act has been modified several times to increase the caps on funding for defense (called security in the law) and nondefense (nonsecurity) programs. Most recently, the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2019 (P.L. 116-37) set the limits for 2020 at $1,288 billion-$666.5 billion for defense programs and $621.5 billion for nondefense programs (see Table 1). CBO's estimates of the adjustments to the caps for 2020 amount to $615 billion. Most of the estimated adjustments are for nondefense funding, including 3. Program integrity initiatives seek to identify and reduce overpayments in benefit programs, such as Disability Insurance, Supplemental Security Income, Medicare, Medicaid, unemployment compensation, and the Children's Health Insurance Program. Also, the 21st Century Cures Act (PL. 114- 255) requires discretionary funding for certain activities to be excluded from calculations of appropriations constrained by the caps. That funding totals $0.6 billion for nondefense programs for 2020, CBO estimates. Notes: All years referred to in this report are federal fiscal years, which run from October 1 to September 30 and are designated by the calendar year in which they end. Numbers in the text and table may not add up to totals because of rounding.

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