Budget Update -- August 2005

The Congressional budget resolution increased the deficit relative to the CBO baseline by $200 billion from FY 2005 through FY 2010. Since passing the budget resolution, Congress has approved several bills that would increase spending above the limits in the resolution. Making matters worse, Congress is poised to take actions this fall that would result in further increases to the deficit beyond those already assumed in the budget resolution.

In this update, we examine the impact of Congressional actions on the deficit in two ways: 1) the increases in the deficit authorized by the budget resolution plus the increases in the deficit from legislation that increases the deficit further and 2) the increase in the deficit above the baseline as a result of legislation signed into law so far this year. The first approach provides a more complete picture of the impact of Congressional actions because it includes the costs of decisions that have already been made and are in the process of being implemented.

For the complete document, please see the attached PDF version.