Future Retirement Success
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Investing
  • Stocks
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Investing
  • Stocks

Future Retirement Success

Investing

How “Temporary” Emergency Spending Bloats the Federal Budget for Years

by September 25, 2024
September 25, 2024
How “Temporary” Emergency Spending Bloats the Federal Budget for Years

Romina Boccia

Today, September 25, the House Budget Committee will consider the Stop the Baseline Bloat Act (H.R. 8068), an important step toward addressing the budget distortion caused by including temporary emergency spending in the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) baseline. This flawed approach creates a distorted view of the budget, allowing “emergency” funds to quietly inflate future spending projections. It also makes maintaining current levels of discretionary spending seem like a deficit reduction.

Emergency spending provisions—meant to address unforeseen crises—are being treated as permanent expenditures, undermining the purpose of emergency appropriations and skewing fiscal decisions.

As bill sponsor Rep. Glenn Grothman (R‑WI) pointed out during a recent hearing with CBO Director Phillip Swagel, the practice of extending temporary emergency spending, like the $95 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan, across a 10-year window artificially inflates future projections. This adds about $900 billion to the budget baseline, despite being billed as “one-time” money.

Dr. Swagel agreed that emergency spending should not be treated as permanent, noting that the CBO is bound by statute to extend it. This statute distorts the fiscal picture, leading to what Dominik Lett and I have called an “insidious ratcheting effect,” where spending is biased upwards as emergency funds inflate the baseline, making it easier for legislators to justify additional spending.

The Stop the Baseline Bloat Act, introduced on a bipartisan basis by Rep. Glenn Grothman (R‑WI) and Rep. Ed Case (D‑HI), would correct this by instructing the CBO to remove emergency spending from baseline projections, treating this spending as an exemption rather than as part of the regular budget.

This matters because the CBO budget baseline serves as the benchmark for evaluating fiscal policy. Whether something is scored as a spending increase or cut depends on the baseline. The current baseline approach, however, includes temporary emergency funds alongside regular discretionary appropriations and projects both to grow with inflation. The problem? By projecting temporary emergency expenditures as if they were permanent, the CBO’s current practice artificially inflates discretionary spending estimates.

According to Rep. Case (D‑HI):

“The path out of our growing budget crisis starts with accurate and transparent budgets. A budget that inflates prior year spending to conceal real growth year-to-year is neither accurate nor transparent. Our measure would eliminate these budgetary tricks that conceal our dangerous journey into fiscal irresponsibility.”

As Rep. Grothman (R‑WI) noted:

“The CBO cannot continue to create a budget baseline that justifies outrageous spending levels. Getting the country’s fiscal house in order starts with an unbiased CBO baseline.”

And as I’ve stated previously:

“The Stop the Baseline Bloat Act would [ensure that] when Congress decides to rely on emergency and supplemental funding to increase topline levels, a spending increase gets scored as such.”

To curb reckless spending, Congress should accurately account for emergencies in the budget. Honest budgeting is critical, and excluding emergency appropriations from the baseline is a key step in the right direction.

For a more comprehensive treatment of emergency spending and its fiscal impact, see “Curbing Federal Emergency Spending | Cato Institute”

0
FacebookTwitterGoogle +Pinterest
previous post
How to Swap Faces in Photos: Using AI Face Swap Tools
next post
Campaign finance wars are over and the winner turned defeat into victory

You may also like

The Inflation Reduction Act after Two Years: Spending...

August 16, 2024

Higher Interest Rates Have Ramifications for Public Pension...

October 13, 2023

New Defending Globalization Content: The Conservative and Progressive...

May 30, 2024

The Government Cheats, Loses, and Cheats Again to...

August 16, 2023

Should Governments Fund Research?

February 18, 2025

Freedom to Offend Under Threat Across Europe

February 6, 2025

Top 5 Reasons to End the US Department...

March 21, 2025

Kamala Harris and the PRO Act: A Bad...

November 4, 2024

Trump Orders Declassification of Remaining JFK, RFK, and...

January 24, 2025

It’s the Worst Possible Time for a Link...

October 26, 2023

    Get free access to all of the retirement secrets and income strategies from our experts! or Join The Exclusive Subscription Today And Get the Premium Articles Acess for Free

    By opting in you agree to receive emails from us and our affiliates. Your information is secure and your privacy is protected.

    Recent Posts

    • Trump’s Debanking Order Calls for Investigation, Something Tennessee Should Have Done

      August 10, 2025
    • Zelenskyy thanks NATO, European leaders for backing his push to join Trump‑Putin summit

      August 10, 2025
    • NATO chief says upcoming Trump-Putin meeting will be about ‘testing’ Russian leader

      August 10, 2025
    • Summertime and the living is uneasy on Capitol Hill

      August 10, 2025
    • Putin ally warns ‘titanic efforts’ are underway to sink Trump summit over Ukraine war

      August 10, 2025
    • Farage faces rising tension with younger Reform voters over net zero stance

      August 10, 2025

    Categories

    • Business (8,742)
    • Investing (2,191)
    • Politics (16,356)
    • Stocks (3,228)
    • About us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms & Conditions

    Disclaimer: futureretirementsuccess.com, its managers, its employees, and assigns (collectively “The Company”) do not make any guarantee or warranty about what is advertised above. Information provided by this website is for research purposes only and should not be considered as personalized financial advice. The Company is not affiliated with, nor does it receive compensation from, any specific security. The Company is not registered or licensed by any governing body in any jurisdiction to give investing advice or provide investment recommendation. Any investments recommended here should be taken into consideration only after consulting with your investment advisor and after reviewing the prospectus or financial statements of the company.

    Copyright © 2025 futureretirementsuccess.com | All Rights Reserved