2008 Federal Budget

http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2008/summarytables.html

Summary Tables of the 2008 Federal Budget (note that NASA appears under "Discretionary Spending", Table S-3).


Table S–7. Budget Summary by Category
(In billions of dollars)

 
  2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
               
Outlays:              
   Discretionary:              
      Security 566 622 658 655 617 609 603
      Non-security 451 458 456 443 439 436 435
         Total, discretionary 1,017 1,080 1,114 1,099 1,056 1,045 1,039
   Mandatory:              
      Social Security:              
         Current program 544 582 608 640 678 717 761
         Personal accounts — — — — — — 29
      Medicare 325 367 386 409 434 475 482
      Medicaid and SCHIP 186 198 209 223 239 257 277
      Other 357 318 324 340 361 380 374
         Total, mandatory 1,412 1,465 1,527 1,613 1,712 1,829 1,923
   Net interest 227 239 261 274 281 284 285
Total outlays 2,655 2,784 2,902 2,985 3,049 3,157 3,246
Receipts 2,407 2,540 2,662 2,798 2,955 3,104 3,307
   Deficit(–)/surplus(+) −248 −244 −239 −187 −94 −54 61
               
   On-budget deficit −434 −427 −451 −413 −339 −318 −187
   Off-budget surplus 186 183 212 226 245 264 248
               

 
Table S–3. Discretionary Funding by Major Agency
(Net budget authority in billions of dollars)
 
Agency 2006 2007 2008
Actual Request Current Law 1  Request
   Agriculture 21.1 19.7 19.6 20.2
   Commerce 6.4 6.1 5.6 6.6
   Defense 410.7 439.3 429.6 481.4
   Education 56.5 54.4 56.0 56.0
   Energy 23.6 23.6 22.8 24.3
   Health and Human Services 69.1 67.6 69.1 69.3
   Homeland Security 30.7 30.9 32.0 34.3
   Housing and Urban Development 34.1 33.6 34.7 35.2
   Interior 10.8 10.5 10.3 10.6
   Justice 21.1 19.5 19.4 20.2
   Labor 11.3 10.9 11.7 10.6
   State and Other International Programs 30.2 33.9 28.7 35.0
   Transportation 14.6 13.2 10.7 12.1
   Treasury 11.4 11.6 11.4 12.1
   Veterans Affairs 32.9 35.7 33.2 39.4
   Corps of Engineers 5.3 4.7 4.7 4.9
   Environmental Protection Agency 7.6 7.3 7.5 7.2
   Executive Office of the President 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3
   Judicial Branch 5.3 5.9 5.3 6.1
   Legislative Branch 3.8 4.3 3.7 4.4
   National Aeronautics and Space Administration 16.3 16.8 16.2 17.3
   National Science Foundation 5.6 6.0 5.6 6.4
   Small Business Administration 0.5 0.6 0.4 0.5
   Social Security Administration 7.4 7.9 7.6 7.9
   Other Agencies 6.7 6.7 6.5 7.5
         
Total, Discretionary Spending 843.4 871.0 852.8 929.8
         
 

What is the Difference Between Discretionary and Mandatory?

From the Congressional Budget Office:

"On the basis of its treatment in the budget process, federal spending can be divided into three broad categories:

"Mandatory spending consists primarily of benefit programs such as Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. The Congress generally determines spending for those programs by setting rules for eligibility, benefit formulas, and other parameters rather than by appropriating specific dollar amounts each year. The Congressional Budget Office's (CBO's) baseline projections of mandatory spending assume that existing laws and policies will remain unchanged and that most expiring programs will be extended. Mandatory spending also includes offsetting receipts--fees and other charges that are recorded as negative budget authority and outlays. Offsetting receipts differ from revenues in that revenues are collected as an exercise of the government's sovereign powers, whereas offsetting receipts are generally collected from other government accounts or paid by the public for business transactions (such as rent payments and royalties from leases for oil and gas drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf).

"Discretionary spending is controlled by annual appropriation acts; policymakers decide each year how many dollars to devote and to which activities. Appropriations fund a wide variety of governmental activity, including defense, transportation, national parks, law enforcement, disaster relief, and foreign aid. Certain fees and other charges that are triggered by appropriation action are classified as offsetting collections, which offset discretionary spending. CBO's baseline depicts the path of discretionary spending in accordance with provisions of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, which state that current spending should be assumed to grow with inflation in the future.(1) CBO estimates that appropriations provided to date total $840 billion for 2005--$421 billion for defense and $419 billion for nondefense activities. In addition, the baseline includes about $45 billion in obligation limitations that control spending from the Highway Trust Fund and the Airport and Airway Trust Fund. Such spending is classified as discretionary, although the budget authority for such programs is provided in authorizing legislation and is considered mandatory.

"Net interest includes interest paid on Treasury securities and other interest that the government pays (for example, on late refunds issued by the Internal Revenue Service) minus interest that the government collects from various sources (such as from commercial banks, where Treasury tax and loan accounts are maintained). Net interest is determined by the size and composition of the government's debt, annual budget deficits or surpluses, and market interest rates. "

The Spending Outlook. (2005) The Budget & Economic Outlook: 2006-2015. Congressional Budget Office (CBO). January 2005. http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdoc.cfm?index=6060&type=0&sequence=4

 

 

8/08/07 - SH

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