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Broken Budgeting
A View o Federal Budget Making rom the Trenches
Scott Lilly and Eleanor Hill August 2012
www.americanprogress.o
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Broken BudgetingA View o Federal Budget Making rom the Trenches
Scott Lilly and Eleanor Hill August 2012
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Contents 1 Forward
5 Introduction
7 Deterioration and distress
10 Use of information
13 The issue of time
17 The high cost of poorly conceived experiments
in performance-based budgeting
23 Top-down government
27 Looking for perspective
30 About the authors
31 Acknowledgements
32 Endnotes
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Forward
Some ime ago he Cener or American Progress was approached abou doing
research on expanding he use o perormance-based analysis in he ederal budge-
making process. In response we launched an iniiaive called, Doing Wha Works.
Budge makers look a a variey o daa in reaching decisions abou program and
agency unding levels. Perormance-based inormaion is only one caegory. Anoher
is known as oupu daa, which measures how much aciviy ook place bu no nec-
essarily how much was accomplished. Oupu daa are used simply because measur-ing wha was accomplished is oen subjecive and dicul o deermine.
Tis problem suraces, or example, in eors o evaluae he Head Sar pro-
gram. Expensive long-erm sudies reach dieren conclusions abou he impac
ha Head Sar has on he underprivileged children who enroll. Even wihin he
research communiy, here is disagreemen abou how he daa should be iner-
preed. While hose who make budge policy wih respec o programs like Head
Sar are generally inormed abou his debae, hey seek more concree daa
showing year-o-year changes in Head Sar aciviy. Tese daa migh include he
answers o quesions such as:
How is he number o children enrolled in he program changing over ime? How many insrucional personnel are engaged in helping hese children mee
program goals and objecives?Wha are he rends in he educaional preparaion o program sa?
Tis is wha is reerred o as oupu daa. While i does no answer he ulimae
quesion ha a policymaker would like he answer o, i does give hem a sense o
how much eor is being made wih he unds provided o atain saed goals.
In many insances, policymakers are orced o rely enirely on oupu daa. Tis
may be because a program is oo new o have been exensively evaluaed or i may
be because a paricular program by law provides sae and local governmen wih
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broad exibiliy in deermining wha problems will be addressed under he pro-
gram or he ype o approach o be used in atacking he problem. And in a grea
many oher insances, we lack perormance inormaion simply because no one
has fgured ou wha o measure or wha hose measuremens ulimaely mean.
Is he U.S. Border Parol doing a beter job when arress o illegal border crossers goup or is i a sign o success ha he number o illegal crossings appears o be going
down? Furhermore, rom he perspecive o budge policy, should you cu unding
or he Border Parol i arress are going down because hey appear o need less sa
or should you increase i because hey appear o be doing a good job?
I is because budge policy sa in boh he execuive and legislaive branches
mus rely heavily on oupu daa or a very large porion o he decisions hey
mus make ha we direced one Doing Wha Works research projec o review he
inormaion available o budge policy sa. Specifcally, we decided o do wha
no one else appears o have done previouslyinerview such sa and ge heirpercepions abou he ollowing:
Wha kind o inormaion do you ge in preparing budge recommendaions? o wha exen does inormaion drive resource allocaion decisions?Wha aws do you see in he inormaion ha you work wih in making budge
decisions?Wha kind o inormaion would you like o have ha you do no have?
o conduc his research CAP asked me o parner wih Eleanor Hill, a parner a
he law frm o King & Spalding who had worked or many years as sa direcor
o he Permanen Subcommitee on Invesigaions o he Senae Governmenal
Aairs Commitee, and subsequenly as inspecor general o he U.S. Deparmen
o Deense. I was hough ha he wo o us would bring a variey o perspecives o
he projec, including experience in boh he execuive and legislaive branches, boh
houses o Congress, and in boh he auhorizing and he appropriaions processes.
Our ask was o ideniy sa and policymakers in boh branches who played key
roles in he ormulaion and enacmen o spending auhorizaions and annual
appropriaion measures and o inerview hem wih respec o he quesions raisedabove. Te 32 people we ulimaely spoke wih consised o a sampling o people
who had long been par o he governmen culure o budge making and were in
ouch wih a broad specrum o budge proessionals on a regular basis. We eared
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a he ouse ha i would be dicul o obain inerviews wih senior budge sa
and policymakers; ha hey would be reicen o speak openly on sensiive ma-
ers and ha opinions would be sharply divided based on insiuional aliaions.
Virually none o hose concerns proved o be correc. A very high percenage
o hose who were asked o paricipae agreed o do so. For he mos par heyseemed appreciaive o he opporuniy o alk abou issues ha hey ound very
roubling. Teir commens were brually rank and here was remarkable unanim-
iy in he opinions expressed regardless o insiuional aliaion. Te inerview-
ers promised all individuals who agreed o be inerviewed ha heir names and
ideniying characerisics would be kep confdenial in order o maximize he
openness and candor o he discussions.
Te ormal inerviews were compleed in he all o 2010 bu a number o hose
inerviewed were conaced or clarifcaions or urher commens since hen.
Considerable ime has been devoed since he inerviews o conducing researchino he hisory o budge reorm and he implemenaion o various program
evaluaion proposals so as o provide a uller undersanding o he commens
made by inerviewees and give a broader conex o hose commens.
I is expeced ha he resuls o hese inerviews will be conroversial. Te resuls
provide a sharp criicism o he managemen o he execuive branch over he
course o recen adminisraions and perhaps an even sharper criique o Congress
over hose same years, especially wih respec o how Congress has handled is
responsibiliies or oversigh and resource allocaion. Te inerviewees pain a pic-
ure o a governmen ha has become very op down in is managemen sylea
governmen ha uses he skills o is expers o jusiy decisions made by higher
auhoriies raher han as resources or developing more inelligen policies.
Congress, which in earlier imes oen orced deparmen heads and agency direc-
ors o documen ha hey were proceeding based on well-ounded inormaion-
based policy, has apparenly los he capaciy o deal wih he execuive branch
on ha level o deail. While he budge jusifcaions sen o Congress in suppor
o deparmen and agency spending requess have become ar more voluminous,
hey or he mos par conain less and less useul inormaion. Inerviewees con-frmed ha, in imporan insances, Congress is oen no ully aware o he scope
o aciviies or which requesed unds will be used or he exen o which unded
aciviies are ruly eecive.
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In ha conex, he ailure o he execuive branch o ideniy and provide useul
program inormaion, and he ailure o Congress o orce a more houghul and
deliberae process wihin he execuive branch, seriously undercus he inegriy
and eeciveness o he enire budgeary process. Tis paper deails hese wo
endemic problems in he ederal budge-making process bu does no propose
any possible soluions. In he coming weeks, I will in he spiri o Doing WhaWorks publish a second paper oering a number o possible remedies o he
problems idenifed in hese inerviews.
Scot Lilly, Senior Fellow, Cener or American Progress
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Introduction
Improving he decisions ha are made in consrucing he annual ederal budge
has been a cenral goal o reormers in his counry or a leas a cenury and a
hal. Major reorms were implemened in he lae 1860s, wih he creaion o he
congressional appropriaions commitees o debae and approve all governmen
spending, independen o he congressional commitees ha auhorize he spend-
ing. In 1921 he passage o he Budge and Accouning Ac esablished he execu-
ive branch budge process, and in 1974 he passage o he Congressional Budge
Ac creaed a mechanism by which Congress could atemp o improve he coordi-naion beween ax policy, discreionary spending, and enilemen spending.
Te 1974 ac has been amended repeaedly since i frs became law. I has been
widely criicized as a ailure bu here is a divergence o opinion as o wha
changes would be necessary in order o make i eecive.1 Boh he Clinon and
George W. Bush adminisraions underook major execuive branch iniiaives
o require large-scale sandardized daa reporing by agencies, which hey argued
would improve he inormaion available o hose charged wih allocaing govern-
men resources. As we underook his research projec, he Obama adminisra-
ion was jus puting ogeher is own plans or revising he requiremens or how
ederal agencies collec and repor daa used in budge preparaion.
I is in his conex ha we conduced he research described in his paper. While
many o hose demanding reorm were arguing ha governmen should be run
more like a business, we noed ha no one had done wha he gurus o privae-
secor managemen reorm advocaedpeople such as W. Edwards Deeming and
Peer Drucker, who championed objecive-oriened, perormance-based manage-
men, based on deailed inormaion abou he operaions o business gahered
rom he employees o frms.
In shor, he promoers o business pracices in governmen had no walked he
ederal governmens equivalen o he plan oor and sough he advice o is
producion workers.
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We decided ha inormaion should no be le unapped. We sough ou he per-
specive o hose who had hands-on, everyday experience in analyzing ederal pro-
gram objecives, measuring program perormance, and deermining how available
resources should be divided among compeing governmen prioriies. Specifcally,
we waned o know wha role inormaion played in heir decision making, wha
inormaion hey used, how hey evaluaed ha inormaion, and wha addiionalinormaion hey would like o have.
Te group we seleced o speak wih had a wide range o experience in governmen
budgeing. Tere was a oal o 32 people, he large majoriy o whom were currenly
employed as budge proessionals in eiher he execuive or legislaive branch o
governmen. A ew were recen reirees. Among he inerviewees wihin he execu-
ive branch, some were a he agency level, ohers a he deparmenal level, and sill
ohers were a he Oce o Managemen and Budge, which oversees he execu-
ive branch budgeing process. Among hose in he legislaive branch, some were
employees o he House and ohers employees o he Senae. Te group included sarom auhorizing commitees, as well as he appropriaions commitee, and rom he
Governmen Accounabiliy Oce, he invesigaive arm o Congress. Also included
were wo members o Congress wih signifcan roles in oversigh and budge.
Mos o he budge proessionals had played muliple roles during heir careers. Six
had, a some poin in heir career, been a he Oce o Managemen and Budge,
while 19 had served a some poin in a deparmenal budge oce, and 13 had
been in an agency budge oce. A oal o 22 had worked a one ime or anoher or
Congress. Alogeher he group had more han 600 years o governmen service in
he feld o budgeing. Te inerviewers promised all individuals who agreed o be
inerviewed ha heir names and ideniying characerisics would be kep confden-
ial in order o maximize he openness and candor o he discussions.
We ound he inerviewees o be an impressive group o individuals. By and large
hey displayed an exraordinary breadh o knowledge, and nearly all o our iner-
views provided us wih numerous peneraing and houghul insighs. For he
mos par, hese individuals were nonpoliical. Mos, in ac, had careers ha, over
ime, required hem o work or leaders in boh poliical paries. While hey deal
wih he ederal budge rom a variey o insiuional perspecives, hey saw heevoluion o he process by which he governmen makes spending decisions in
ways ha were remarkably similar.
Tis paper presens heir view o he ederal governmens acory oor and
producion processes. I is no a prety picure.
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Deterioration and distress
Clearly he mos disurbing aspec o he inerviews we conduced revealed he
very srong sense conveyed by a large majoriy o hose we spoke wih ha he
sysem by which governmen makes decisions on resource allocaion has seriously
deerioraed over he pas decade or so. Many inimaed ha he porion o he
sysem hey deal wih was bordering on dysuncion.
One deparmenal budge direcor saed ha he el his sysem was collapsing
around him. He said ha he deparmens planning and evaluaion sa had beenwhitled away by budge cus over he years, seriously reducing wha was known
abou he perormance and eeciveness o various programs wihin his depar-
men. Equally desrucive, he argued, were he onerous and useless daa reporing
requiremens ha consumed he ime o he small sa ha remained.
A ormer senior employee a he Deparmen o Deenses Oce o he Comproller
old us:
Te real problem sems om he lack o real rigor in he process. Te deparmen
is renowned worldwide or he Planning Programming and Budgeing Sysem
[a budgeing sysem creaed a he deparmen in he 1960s]. Every counry in
he world wans o model i, and we keep screwing wih i and making i worse.
Every ime we mess wih i, we make i worse han i was beore, and usually we
make i easier or people o ge around i.
Anoher perspecive on ha deparmen came rom an individual who had
worked on deense budge accouns a boh he Oce o Managemen and
Budge and on Capiol Hill:
I you didn provide bonuses, i you didn do XYZ, you weren supporing he
roops. Ta menaliy undercu he need or analyzing programs and managing
hem eecively. Fiscal discipline wen ou he window. In addiion, we were doing
ve bills a year. We weren buil o do ha. You are asking people o do bills every
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wo monhs. Analysis simply goes ou he window. [Former Secreary o Deense
Donald] Rumseld and crowd oally broke down he Planning Programming and
Budgeing Sysem so ha i became dysuncional. Everyhing was ad hoc.
An individual who had worked in a number o Penagon budge oces, as well as
on he Hill, old us:
We have changed he srucure o he accouns; we have added a quadrennial
review. Every service now has a perpeual sa ha works or our years o make
sure ha hey will no lose one dime in he nex review. We wen o a wo-year
budge processwe did ha wice or hree imes. We are ino coninual change,
bu wha inormaion are we geting? Te process is op-down. Tere is no
botom-up. Tere is no accounabiliy. You have jus creaed daa, mounains
and mounains o daa, bu here is no inormaion, and here is nobody here
using inormaion.
A Hill employee who is a veeran o he Deense Deparmens Comprollers
Oce said ha a dramaic decline occurred in he qualiy and experience o per-
sonnel in ha oce during he previous decade. According o his individual, he
average enure o he sa dropped rom 18 years o 13 monhs, and ha change
ook place in a period o only fve years.
A curren senior Penagon ocial conceded:
We do make an incredible number o decisions based on a igheningly small
amoun o inormaion, wo lines on a power poin, and some o hese hings can
be large, hundreds o millions even. Tere is an atemp o muser inormaion.
A senior budge ocial a one o he larges governmen deparmens dealing wih
domesic issues said:
My usraion is ha i seems almos overwhelming o make he righ decision
on how you allocae scarce resources. Te presiden does a discreionary eeze,
and ha number is no necessarily realisici may be or may no be. I is hard
o ge ou o jus repeaing las year. I am working all he ime, bu I am no nd-ing hose answers. [Te deparmenal evaluaions sa] have some really smar
people. Tey are obviously sudying issues ha relae o our programs. Tey
should inorm he budge process. Tey don! We are oo ied up on oo many
oher issues wih oo many people direcing he process.
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Use of information
A concern expressed by budge-process reormers ouside o governmen is
ha he curren process is no sucienly based on inormaionin paricu-
lar, inormaion regarding program perormance. I ha is rue, an explanaion
migh be ha hose in governmen who make such decisions are no compeen
in collecing and analyzing such inormaion, or ha hey allow oher consider-
aionssuch as parochial poliicso become he dominan consideraion in
congressional, agency, or deparmenal budge decisions. Tis concernha he
role o parochial poliics ouweighs he use o relevan inormaion in congres-sional deliberaionsis no only held by hose ouside o governmen bu also by
many execuive branch ocials.
We ound some evidence o suppor his noion, bu we also ound evidence ha
his view is grealy oversaed. Based on he inerviews we conduced, budge proes-
sionals in boh he execuive and he legislaive branches are by and large avid con-
sumers o inormaion abou he programs hey und and he perormance o hose
programs. When possible, hey make unding decisions based on such inormaion.
Ta does no mean ha all decisions are based on evidence and inormaion.
Useul inormaion may no be available, or, in some cases, oher acors or priori-
ies may aec he unding decision. One Senae saer old us:
I is a pe prioriy o a member, hen hey are going o do i regardless o he
daa. I hink we would all eel beter i he decisions we were making on und-
ing were grounded in beter inormaion, bu I hink hey are no parly because
has par o he poliical process ha people have an agenda, and hen also oo
oen good inormaion is lacking.
A colleague o his, who had saed a separae subcommitee, said:
Many decisions are made based on who is asking. Ta is no a uncion o
inormaion. Bu in he broader scheme o hings, he chairmans hreshold or
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decision making is low. He relies on his sa o make 95 percen, 96 percen, 97
percen o he decisions. And hose decisions were made based on inormaion.
Anoher House saer, whose career was spen largely as a career civil servan in a
deparmenal budge oce, made recommendaions o he subcommitee chair-
man ha were all based on he bes inormaion available o he sa. Accordingo he saer, all o hose recommendaions had been included in he legislaion
repored by he commitee wihou change.
Based on our inerviews, inormaion plays an imporan role in congressional
decisions abou spending. While some provisions o hose bills are based on
poliical imperaives raher han inormaion abou programmaic needs or per-
ormance, i appears ha mos provisions wihin a given appropriaion measure
reec inormaion colleced and analyzed by sa who usually have lenghy
proessional backgrounds in evaluaing programs. As a senior saer a he Oce
o Managemen and Budge described his congressional counerpars o us, Weare all cu rom he same cloh.
Te individuals we inerviewed relied on wide array o sources o ge he inorma-
ion necessary o make decisions on resource allocaion. Tese included:
Agency budge jusifcaions Formal program evaluaions perormed or he governmen by ouside conracors Governmen Accounabiliy Oce repors Deparmenal inspecor general repors Ouside expersAgency personnel Repors and analyses commissioned rom he Naional Academy o Science
Based on he individuals ha we inerviewed, all seemed commited, well-rained,
and reasonably curren in erms o heir knowledge o major program evaluaions
relaed o he spending accouns or which hey were responsible.
Quality of information
Despie he wide array o sources o inormaion, none o he people we iner-
viewed el ha hey had he inormaion ha hey should have o bes perorm
heir job. Tey cied a variey o reasons or his. One Hill saer saed ha he
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was unable o ge basic acs rom one execuive branch deparmen or which he
was responsible because he execuive sa hemselves had been unable o collec
hose acs. Tis saer, rom a major auhorizing commitee, said, Te hardes
hing we do is geting accurae inormaion, ciing he impac o deparmenal
agendas and he need or more objecive inormaion.
Oher governmen ocials wih a broader porolio said ha he qualiy o inor-
maion varied widely across governmen agencies. Repeaedly, he inelligence
agencies go he wors reviews. One saer repored ha i was no uncommon o
ge budge documens rom he inelligence agencies ha conained columns o
numbers ha added o oals dieren rom he oals conained in he documens.
Many complained ha agencies were deliberaely wihholding inormaion. An
Oce o Managemen and Budge ocial, or example, described he deparmen
he deal wih as no even rying o be hones, jus rying o ge more money.
While some in he execuive branch disagreed, ohers indicaed inormaion hadbeen wihheld increasingly in recen years, despie warnings rom agency and
deparmenal budge sa ha he consequences could be disasrous. One depar-
menal budge ocer saed ha he ransparency o budge and perormance daa
communicaed o Capiol Hill had declined markedly in he pas decade.
Indeed, Deparmen o Deense budge sa old us here had been a serious
decline in he level o inormaion shared wih Congressa decline ha hey
largely atribued o Congresss unwillingness o be more demanding. A saer
rom a major auhorizing commitee complained ha, as a resul, Congress
is losing he power o he purse. Compounding he problem, said one ormer
Hill saer, who had also been a senior ocial a he Oce o Managemen and
Budge, is ha Congress had beter access o Deense Deparmen inormaion
han was available o he Oce o Managemen and Budge.
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The issue of time
No issue came up more oen in he inerviews han he quesion o ime. Wihou
ime, budge sa canno demand he inormaion necessary o make inelligen
decisions, and wihou ime, hey canno read and analyze such inormaion even
when i is made available. Several acors have seriously eroded he ime available
o governmen sa or engaging in inormaion-based budge decisions.
Chaos in the budget cycle
Perhaps he mos requenly menioned o hese is he chaoic naure o he bud-
ge process ha has evolved over he pas decade and a hal. For decades here was
a very regular rhyhm o he governmens budge decision making. Aer 8 o 10
monhs o weighing opions, he execuive branch would send a budge reques o
Congress in January. Ta reques would be ollowed by several monhs o airly
inensive hearings. By May he House Appropriaions Commitee would sar
reporing bills o he oor o he chamber. By he end o June, nearly all o he dozen
or so appropriaion bills (he number has changed over ime) would have been
passed by he House, and in July mos would have moved hrough he Senae.
I all wen well, conerence commitee agreemens beween designaed House and
Senae commitee members were reached in Sepember or early Ocober. Ta le
hree imporan monhs or he in-deph review o problem agencies or rapidly
growing programs. Ta ime period gave sa and members a solid inormaional
background around which o plan and ocus he coming round o hearings on he
key problems acing each agency.
Ta sysem ell apar or several reasons. Increased parisanship in he Houselimied he abiliy o he Appropriaions Commitee o build he broad consensus
necessary or expediious consideraion and adopion o annual spending legisla-
ion. More imporanly, growing parisanship in he Senae resuled in he more
requen use o he flibusereven when he bill in quesion was no paricularly
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conroversial. In recen decades, a bill can oen be blocked rom consideraion i a
senaor simply noifes he leadership ha he will no cooperae in he procedural
moions needed o bring legislaion o a fnal voe.
By he early par o he pas decade, Senae leaders o boh paries became unwill-
ing o give up enough ime on Senae oor calendar o allow consideraion omore han a handul o he annual appropriaion bills, due o hreaened flibus-
ers. Acion on hose bills was oen delayed unil a ew weeks beore adjourn-
menusually in Decemberwhen he Senae would insis on an omnibus bill
or a series o omnibus bills conaining appropriaions never considered under
regular order on he Senae oor.2
Anoher change ha grealy reduced he ime o budge proessionals in boh he
execuive and legislaive branches or obaining and examining inormaion on
programmaic needs and perormance was he decision o he George W. Bush
adminisraion o und wha came o be known as he global war on error. Tewar was unded hrough supplemenal appropriaion measures, which resuled in
Congress simulaneously sruggling o pass he regular appropriaion measures
alongside massive requess or addiional spending ha oen included no only
unding or he wars in Aghanisan and Iraq and oher anierroris operaions bu
also money o address a variey o domesic needs.
Beween 2001 and he beginning o 2009 (beore he consideraion o he American
Recovery and Reinvesmen Ac o 2009), more han $1 rillion was appropriaed
ouside he annual appropriaion measuresabou 10 imes he amoun considered
in such measures in he previous eigh-year period. A Senae saer old us:
Wih he wars, here is always a supplemenal coming around he corner. Ta
mean ha here is always an opporuniy [ or someone in he process o advo-
cae] or more money, and so you are always geting sucked ino i in one way or
anoher. Ta is an exremely imporan poin.
A Hill and ormer Deparmen o Deense employee (who we previously
cied wih respec o he rapid pace o personnel urnover in he deparmen
Comprollers Oce) poined ou ha he chaoic process generaed by repea-edly unding huge chunks o governmen aciviy hrough supplemenal appro-
priaions aeced he execuive branch, as well as Congress. According o his
individual, he unending workload or deense budge analyss was a key acor in
why so many le governmen service.
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Earmarking
Anoher acor was he pracice o earmarking. While Congress seriously curailed
earmarking in 2009 and eliminaed i alogeher in 2011, he explosion ha ook
place in he pracice beween 1995 and 2009 had a powerul impac on boh he
desire and capaciy o Congress o perorm oversigh and demand he inormaionnecessary o engage in oversigh. While he pracice o earmarking has vanished,
is eecs appear o linger.
In 1995 many o he 13 appropriaion bills conained no earmarks a all, and he
pracice was airly limied even in bills where earmarks were allowed. In he lae
1990s he pracice exploded. Subcommitee sas ha had no earmarks o deal wih
in he mid-1990s were dealing wih as many as 10,000 member requess or ear-
marks by 2004, wih more han 1,800 such requess included in he fnal legislaion
sen o hen-Presiden George W. Bush.3 Tis consumed a huge porion o he ime
previously spen weighing program perormance and conducing agency oversigh.
One saer, who had recenly served on wo separae subcommitees heavily
impaced by he growh o earmarking, characerized he problem as ollows:
Te bigges single problem [wih] he prolieraion o earmarks is no he
wasing o money [on he earmarked projec] bu he complee drain on he
atenion o sa and members. You could be seriously reviewing more han
1,000 separae earmarks on a single subcommitee. I is a remendous drain
on sa ime, and as he process evolved, projecs drove ou programs. A one
ime members were ineresed in programs. Now he quesion is, Wha did I
ge? So much o heir atenion has shied om Wha does he bill do? o
Wha did I ge?
Anoher appropriaions saer old us:
Tere is no quesion ha earmarks are so ar ou o hand, he sheer numbers o
hem, and he concern o membershere was a ime when members asked abou
programs. Tey don anymore. No one o he subcommitee will ask a single ques-
ion abou even hings I would hink hey genuinely care abou. Tey eel hey gowhaever$10,000 or $100,000 in earmarks ha are ar more imporan han a
billion-dollar program in ha bill. When hey come and ask you wha is in he bill,
ha is wha hey are asking abou. And ha is a sea change.
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A Senae saer old us very much he same hing:
Is unorunae ha a lo o he ime, ha is wha so many members care abou.
We would like o hear abou members programmaic prioriies, bu oo oen
hey only care abou earmarks.
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The high cost of poorly conceived
experiments in performance-based
budgeting
While he legislaive branch was sacrifcing opporuniies o make inormed
budge decisions because o is obsession wih earmarking, he execuive branch
was, according o many o our inerviewees, squandering budge policymaking
resources on oher misguided iniiaives. Ironically, he execuive branch misseps
grew rom eors specifcally aimed a improving he qualiy o inormaion avail-
able o ederal budge makers.
Te frs came in he 1990s. Vice Presiden Al Gore reerred o his eor as reinven-ing governmen.4 As ha eor was underway, Congress passed he Governmen
Perormance Resuls Ac, which, among oher hings, was inended o hold govern-
men accounable by measuring program perormance in erms o achieving program
goals. Te second missep was inroduced during he adminisraion o Presiden
George W. Bush and labeled he Program Assessmen Raing ool by his budge
direcor, Mich Daniels. Te ool was inended o improve agency planning under he
Governmen Perormance Resuls Ac by sysemically linking perormance-based
measuremens mandaed under ha law wih he budge process.
We were sunned by he almos universal negaiviy wih which boh eors were
viewed by he budge proessionals we inerviewed in boh he execuive and
legislaive branches. A senior evaluaion exper working or he execuive branch
a he deparmenal level old us ha any eor o measure perormance is more
complex han eiher o hese iniiaives recognized. Te exper said neiher program
recognized ha he Oce o Managemen and Budge-level uncionaries direcing
he daa collecion and reporing needed o build a consensus among sakeholders,
including program managers, abou wha was o be measured and why:
Wha do you measure? Wha do you hink you have learned om he hings youmeasure? One o he problems is ha we measure a lo o hings ha he people
who acually run he programs don paricularly care abou. Tey are no he
way ha hey measure heir own perormance, and so hey don manage o hose
measures. Tey repor he measures, people yell a hem abou hose measures, bu
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hey are no he hing ha hey care abou. Tey have every incenive o make he
measures rivial and unineresing and unimporan because, as ar as hey are con-
cerned, i is pure make-work, and hey don really use hem. And so i is se up as a
ension. We would like o sar ou organically and say, Wha do we need o know
o deermine i he organizaion is working well? Bu we can do ha.
Tis individual also saed ha perormance-based reporing measures required
by he Oce o Managemen and Budge were, in realiy, no associaed wih he
achievemens o he program or lack o achievemens o he program ha hey
were supposed o help evaluae:
Tere is a big push o go o measures ha are broad and are oucome-based,
even when i is unrealisic o imagine ha he program could achieve hose
oucome-based objecives. Even i hose hings happened, i would be random.
A congressional saer wih responsibiliy over he budge o a group o healhprograms amplifed ha exac poin wih specifc examples:
One program has he long-erm objecive o increasing he number o women
who ge mammograms every wo years. Anoher is o reduce per-capia cigarete
consumpion in he Unied Saes, and anoher is o increase he number o
people screened or diabees. Bu women are geting mammograms independen
o his program; here are a lo o acors aecing cigarete consumpion besides
one small program; and he same is rue o diabees. Are we assessing he suc-
cess o his program, or are we assessing he healh o he Unied Saes? Is his
program yielding ha resul? Is here any correlaion beween ha rend and
expendiures or his program?
Te execuive branch evaluaion exper concluded:
Tere is a real misundersanding beween a managemen measure, which
is somehing ha you do conrol and could be held accounable or, and an
oucome ha very much depends on oher hings going on in he world. Even
i [he program] were operaing on a large scale, here are a lo o hings ou
here ha you would wan o be conrolling or beore you would wan oatribue hese numbers o he success or ailure o he program. So on he one
hand, OMB has his big ineres in randomized rials and doing everyhing
om an evaluaion perspecive very eleganly, and, on he oher hand, hey
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wan very global measures ha we can be held o, bu hese wo hings are dia-
merically opposed o one anoher, hese careully conrolled sudies compared
o hese very broad oucome measures.
In Sepember 2002 Oce o Managemen and Budge Direcor Mich Daniels
appeared beore he House Oversigh and Governmen Reorm Commitee andsaed:
Nearly 10 years have passed since he Governmen Perormance and Resuls Ac
was enaced. Agencies spend an inordinae amoun o ime preparing repors o
comply wih i, producing volumes o inormaion o quesionable value.
While Daniels may have correcly seen he olly in he law, he did no relax
reporing requiremens, and he iniiaion o he new Program Assessmen
Raing ool (his conribuion) merely layered more make-work on op o
wha was already required. According o hose we inerviewed, agencies su-ered under no one bu wo separae burdensome, cosly, and ime-consuming
daa-collecion requiremens ha conribued litle or nohing o eiher he
managemen o programs or he abiliy o budge policymakers o improve
heir decisions. In addiion o he hundreds o millions o dollarsor perhaps
morespen in paying he salaries o hose charged wih collecing his largely
useless daa, we were old ha here were oher major coss o he governmen
as a resul o hese perhaps well-inended bu misguided iniiaives.
Firs, his so-called perormance daa was drowning boh branches o govern-
men wih paper and obscuring, i no replacing, inormaion ha was relevan o
beter managemen and resource allocaion. A senior ederal budge exper a he
Governmen Accounabiliy Oce old us his:
One hing ha was very clear o me was ha you break he sysem by over-
whelming i wih demands so ha insead o concenraing on he congressional
budge jusicaion, he agencies were responding o slicing and dicing, and we
are going o do hings or PAR and Perormance and, oh yes, we have o do
a congressional budge jusicaion. We are expecing cuback aer cuback. I
you look a he laundry lis o hings he agencies are expeced o do or he 2012budge and a he same ime cu back 5 percen or more han ha, and none
o he hings ha I see on ha laundry lis are necessarily hings ha agencies
would pick as a prioriy.
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For a grea many decades, he congressional budge jusifcaion was he principle
ool in he annual appropriaion process or weighing he needs o paricular
agencies and he programs wihin hose agencies. Is conens had been negoi-
aed over many years in repeaed conronaions wih he relevan commitees o
Congress. Various ables reecing sang levels, gran awards, conrac aciv-
iy, and expendiures or each discree aciviy wihin he agency were included.Measures deemed relevan o oupu and perormance were required, and he
relevance o hose measures o he agencys perormance were discussed a lengh
in he annual hearing on he agencys budge reques.
Te Governmen Accounabiliy Oce noed his in a 2005 repor:
Mos congressional commitee sa we spoke wih did no nd eiher he PAR
inormaion or he way i was communicaed suied o heir needs. Many had
concerns abou he useulness o he goals and measures OMB used o assess
program perormance and some quesioned he unis o analysis used or hePAR as well as he design o he ool isel.5
Some migh describe ha language as undersaemen. Congress had been com-
plaining or some ime abou he reams o so-called perormance daa ha was
clogging he ow o inormaion necessary or budgeing and oversigh. Much
o ha daa was viewed no only as useless bu also as being sen wih he direc
inenion o overloading he sysem and obscuring inormaion rom Congress
ha he execuive branch did no wan Congress o have. In 2004 hose com-
plains reached he boiling poin when he House ransporaion and reasury
Appropriaions Subcommitee (which, a he ime, also unded he Whie House
and he Oce o Managemen and Budge) insered exraordinary language in he
repor accompanying annual appropriaions:
Many o he deailed ables providing breakdowns o requesed unds by aciviy
or by ofce have been disconinued. Discussions o specic increases and decreases
o prior unding levels have been minimized or eliminaed, along wih breakdowns
o changes in safng levels. In he place o criical budge-jusiying maerial, he
Commitee is provided reams o narraive ex expounding on he perormance
goals and achievemens o he various agencies. Tis requires he Commitee oexpend unnecessary eor o ge he inormaion i needs, and o weed hrough
mounains o inormaion unrelaed o he budge in he hope o nding somehing
useul. perormance-relaed inormaion may be submited under separae
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cover. i he Ofce o Managemen and Budge or individual agencies do no
heed he Commitees direcion, he Commitee will assume ha individual budge
ofces have excess resources ha can be applied o oher, more criical missions.
Te subcommitee ook he urher sep o cuting he budge requesed by he
Oce o Managemen and Budge or he ollowing fscal year by nearly $9 mil-lion, or almos 12 percen, during a period in which he Whie House and he
House o Represenaives were boh under Republican conrol.
By 2010 here appeared o be litle noable improvemen in he qualiy o mos
agency jusifcaions. Te sa o a separae subcommitee idenifed one agency
under heir jurisdicion as an example o he problems hey aced in geting he
inormaion needed o perorm he commitees due diligence on he programs
hey were supposed o und:
I am sruck by how litle useul inormaion he commitee now ges in makingunding decisions. We are geting more and more pages. Tere has cerainly been
no decrease in he number o pages. Bu he amoun o useul inormaion is
really very litle. Tis agency is a prety good example. We appropriae excess o
$10 billion each year.
Look a he jusicaion, and see i you can gure ou how hey spend heir
money. Youve go a lo o alk abou perormance measures and objecives and
all kinds o su ha lls up pages, bu wha do hey do wih ha operaing
money? I know ha hey have eld ofces; hey have hearing judges; hey have
a huge inormaion echnology budge; bu how much do hey spend on hose
iems? How much have hose expendiures grown? Where is he growh concen-
raed? We are dealing wih a $10 billion black box.
Generaing massive amouns o virually useless inormaion had one oher con-
sequence. I exhaused he capaciy o conduc program evaluaions a he agency
and deparmenal level even when he Congress, agency heads, or deparmenal
program evaluaion sa el such evaluaions were needed. One inerviewee
expressed he problem as ollows:
I we said o our evaluaion sa, I wan o know, hese 20 programs ha we are
running, we really have no sense, are hey doing any good? Wha would be he clos-
es we could comegoing cheap and cheerul, no ou o conracors, no o ge he
absolue disposiive answerjus ell me, does his look like i is working or no?
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And hen I can say o somebody, You know, his doesn look like i is working.
Show me why do you hink his is working? And maybe he will say o me, No,
you haven done a good enough sudy. Here you really need a wo-year sudy.
You need o go o a conracor and do i properly. And ha is OK. Ta is he
righ way o go someimes.
Bu he key is o do some research up on. We don do up on! You can do
up on when you are locked ino he very sandardized kinds o requiremens
like hose conained in he Governmen Perormance Resuls Ac.
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Top-down government
For 132 years he presiden played almos no role in deermining he spending
levels o he various deparmens and agencies under his direcion. Each agency
would deermine how much unding i waned or he coming year, and i would
go direcly o he Congress o seek appropriaions wihou consuling he Whie
House. Te Budge and Accouning Ac o 1921 creaed, or he frs ime, a
mehod o reviewing and coordinaing execuive branch budge requess beore
hey were sen o Congress. Ta uncion was enrused o he Bureau o he
Budge, which was no placed under he direc conrol o he Whie House or hepresiden bu delegaed o he Deparmen o reasury.
Presiden Franklin D. Roosevel was able o move he bureau o he Execuive
Oce o he Presiden in 1939, and in 1970 he bureau was given managemen
auhoriy, as well as budgeary auhoriy, over he various deparmens and
agencies o he execuive branch. Eleven years laer anoher dramaic change
ook place. Presiden Ronald Reagans new budge direcor, ormer Rep. David
Sockman (R-MI), was charged wih making massive reducions in he domes-
ic side o he ederal budge. He apparenly ran he newly named Oce o
Managemen and Budge wih litle consulaion and in much he same way he
had managed his congressional oce.
Te book,Inside OMB: Poliics and Process Inside he Presidens Budge Ofce by
Shelley Lynne omkin and Sephen Wayne, describes he ransormaion:
I became eviden ha Sockman already had a clear vision o wha he waned
o accomplish. Since he [Reagan] adminisraion had deermined ha reduc-
ion o domesic programs was o consiue a cenral prioriy, policy and policy
developmen in OMB became op-down as opposed o botom up, and policyguidance om OMBs poliical appoinees became increasingly more specic.
Tis change in OMBs communicaions dynamics was one o he mos sriking
insiuional reversals a rend had been se in moion or budge examiners
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o be used o jusiy or ll in deails on decisions ha had already been reached
by poliical appoinees raher han o provide advice and inormaion o suppor
decision making in progress.
Don Moran, a legislaive aid o Sockman while he served in he House and a
depuy o him a he Oce o Managemen and Budge, described he process oChicago ribune reporer Bill Neikirk:
op-down budgeing mean ha he budge ofce wroe he budges or he
deparmens. Budges were lierally shoved down he hroas o he deparmens;
hey could appeal o he presiden, o course, bu hey were seldom vicorious.
One o our inerviewees, who had spen mos o his career a he Oce o
Managemen and Budge, winessed his period as a young budge ocer a he
Deparmen o Healh and Human Services. He old us ha his boss a ha ime,
HHS Secreary and ormer Sen. Dick Schweiker (R-PA), despie having jus beenappoined o run he deparmen by Presiden Reagan:
had o read abou he HHS budge in he paper. Sockman gave him nohing.
He jus was pale. He couldn believe his was happening. Bu i happened.
ever since 1981 he abiliy o have governmen where your creaive govern-
ing was happening a deparmenal levels disappeared, and i has never come
back. I is all op line. You go your policy ino his number. In my mind cabine
governmen where your creaive governing was happening a he cabine level
disappeared in 1981, and i has never come back.
Tiry years laer op-down budgeing is an issue o serious concern o mos
o he people we inerviewed. Mos el i was a serious impedimen o he ow
o accurae inormaion. Some indicaed ha he execuive budge process has
become more o an exercise aimed a jusiying decisions made a a higher level
wihou he benef o complee inormaionhan one ha atemps o produce
qualiy inormaion upon which he bes decisions can be made.
One appropriaions commitee saer provided an example o how a op-down
budge process corruped he inormaion necessary or raional resource alloca-ion. According o his saer, by he all o 2009 he chairmen and ranking members
o he Commerce, Jusice, and Science subcommitees o he House and Senae
Appropriaions commitees had reached he end o heir rope in dealing wih he
U.S. Bureau o Prisons. I seemed he bureau was clueless in anicipaing uure-year
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expenses. Te previous summer, he wo subcommitees had been orced o appeal
o heir respecive leaders o have $178 million added o an emergency supplemen-
al spending measure o ake care o unanicipaed medical care and uiliy expenses.
In addiion, hey were orced o diver $109 million ha had been appropriaed o
oher Deparmen o Jusice programs o deal wih he shorall.
Furher, he House and Senae appropriaion subcommitees had o ake
$160 million ou o oher prioriies in heir 2009 appropriaion legislaion o
und an anicipaed shorall in he bureaus budge or he coming year. Te
wo Democras and wo Republicans signed a join leter o he Governmen
Accounabiliy Oce demanding ha i ge o he botom o hese perpeual
budgeary shoralls.
Aer a grea deal o back-and-orh beween he Governmen Accounabiliy
Oce, he Deparmen o Jusice, and he budge oce o he Bureau o Prisons,
i was deermined ha he problem had been going on since a leas 2004. Buconrary o wha some had suspeced, i was no a ailure in agency-level number
crunching. Te House Appropriaions saer explained:
I urns ou ha he Bureau o Prisons is remarkably accurae a esimaing wha
he prison populaion is going o be [bu] hey are so used o OMB manipula-
ing heir reques ha hey have sopped guring ou wha a decen relaionship is
beween he populaion and [he amoun] hey are requesing. Tey jus don even
ask or i anymore. my sense is hey are old wha heir number [budge reques
in dollars] will be. Tey build a sory based om ha number. Tey sill go hrough
he process o guring ou wha he populaion is, bu we can nd no mahemaical
correlaion beween ha number and he reques.
Tis paricular inciden came o ligh because here was simply no way o fnesse
he shorall. Te Bureau o Prisons has o process and incarcerae he convics
ha he cours senence. Tere is very litle ha i can do o conrol coss. Is bud-
ge is no based on wha hose coss are expeced o be, bu raher on a number
ha someone a he Oce o Managemen and Budge wan he coss o be. In he
end, he axpayers had o pay he bill anyway, hrough emergency appropriaions.
Te inciden provides disurbing insigh ino how litle impac cos and oher
relevan inormaion oen has in he allocaion o resources in he curren execu-
ive budge process. Te chie budge ocer a one execuive branch deparmen
described his Oce o Managemen and Budge counerpars as:
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Brigh peoplebu supercial. Tey don undersand programs like hey
should. Tey have become more difcul o deal wih. Tey have very litle exper-
ise bu wan o ell us wha o do.
His counerpar in anoher deparmen said much he same hing:
Te oher issue ha I nd ha is ridiculous is ha you have someone on he Hill
and someone a OMB, you know hese young kids, who are making a lo o
hese decisions ha don have a clue.
While op-down decisions abou annual budge levels seemed o be a he cener
o his conroversy, some o he budge proessionals we inerviewed also raised
objecions o he increasing workload placed on hem and heir sas. Some
atribued he increased workload no only o Oce o Managemen and Budge
direcives bu also o deparmenal poliical appoinees or reasons hey con-
sidered largely poliical and sel-promoing. One deparmenal budge ocercommened:
Tere has been a dumbing down o analyic and inellecual capabiliies. Knowledge
o how governmen works has deerioraed. People here hink in erms o press
releases. Tey announce hings beore hey fgure ou how o implemen hem. Tere
are more and more poliical appoinees, and hey are no concerned wih execuing.
Te negaive eelings were no limied o career civil servans. One poliical
appoinee in a very senior deparmenal posiion requiring Senae conrmaion
reerred o he people she deal wih a he Ofce o Managemen and Budge as
he young punks ha hink hey know everyhing.
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Looking for perspective
Our inerviews wih hese 32 budge proessionals rom across he execuive and
legislaive branches were conduced in he spring, summer, and all o 2010. A
number o imporan hings have changed since hen. Te Obama adminisra-
ion announced in he spring o 2009 ha i would disconinue he Program
Assessmen Raing ool. I has also announced an iniiaive o reorm he peror-
mance evaluaion requiremens o he Governmen Perormance Resuls Ac. I is
oo early o deermine wha impac hose reorms will have.
Congress has also made numerous reorms and reducions in earmarking, con-
cluding wih a complee abandonmen o he pracice in 2011a leas or he
ime being. Te chairmen o he House and Senae Appropriaions commitees
Rep. Hal Rogers (R-KY) and Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-HI)were able, agains con-
siderable odds, o break he impasse and pass a FY 2012 omnibus appropriaion
bill his pas December, giving appropriaions sa more ime o ocus on problem
programs and agencies in heir respecive bills.
I is no clear ye wheher his will lead o a greaer emphasis on program evalu-
aion and oversigh. A cursory review o deparmenal budge jusifcaions,
however, does no give promise o he possibiliy ha eiher he execuive branch
has willingly moved o providing more reliable and useul inormaion or ha
Congress has acceped is responsibiliy o demand i. As one o he people we
alked o a he Governmen Accounabiliy Oce observed:
One o he hings ha I remember when I was a OMB, I remember when I was
a an agency, you didn mess wih appropriaors. I was asounded wih he Bush
adminisraion and heir blaan disregard or an exremely imporan docu-
men, which was he congressional budge jusicaions.
I is no clear ha many o he curren members and sa o he appropriaions
commitees are even aware o ha heriage, much less have he gri o demand he
inormaion hey have a responsibiliy o possess and o acually si down and read
he inormaion when hey ge i.
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Governmen budge proessionals have no, or some ime, had he inorma-
ion hey believe hey need o make reliable, raional, and well-inormed und-
ing decisions.Years o experience wih unding decisions under numerous adminisraions and
congresses have made hese proessionals highly skepical abou he budge process.
Such srongly held views and rusraions should, a minimum, be used oinorm and enlighen he nex generaion o budge reorm eors.
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About the authors
Scott Lilly has served as a Senior Fellow a he Cener or American Progress since
2004. Prior o ha, he worked or 31 years wih Congress, where he served as sa o
boh he House Appropriaions Commitee and House Budge Commitee. In 1985
he became execuive direcor o he Congressional Join Economic Commitee, andin 1988 he became execuive direcor o a congressional in-house hink ank known
as he Democraic Sudy Group. He le ha posiion in 1994 o become clerk and
sa direcor o he House Appropriaions Commitee and served as minoriy sa
direcor on ha commitee rom 1995 o 2004. Since coming o he Cener or
American Progress, he has auhored more han 150 repors and opinion pieces on
opics ranging rom legislaive process o he economy, he fring o U.S. atorneys by
he Bush adminisraion o oversigh o governmen conracing.
Eleanor Hill is a parner a he law frm o King & Spalding, represening corporae
and individual cliens in congressional, inspecor general, and inernal invesiga-ions, and in various legislaive, compliance, and homeland securiy maters. She
has exensive invesigaive and oversigh experience. In Congress, she served as
sa direcor or he Join Congressional Inquiry on he Sepember 11h atacks,
as sa direcor and chie counsel o he Senaes Permanen Subcommitee on
Invesigaions, and as liaison counsel or he join House-Senae invesigaion
o he Iran/Conra aair. As inspecor general or he Deparmen o Deense,
Hill led audis and invesigaions covering Deense and Miliary Deparmen
operaions. She was co-chair o boh he Presidens Council on Inegriy and
Eciency and he Inelligence Communiy Inspecor General Forum, served on
he Atorney Generals Council on W hie Collar Crime, and was awarded wo
deparmenal Disinguished Service Medals. She is also an experienced ederal
prosecuor and rial lawyer, having been an assisan U.S. atorney and a special
atorney wih he Jusice Deparmens Organized Crime Srike Force.
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31 Center or American Progress | Broken Budgeting
Acknowledgements
We would like o hank all hose who ook ime rom heir busy schedules o alk
wih us and or he candor and insigh hey brough o he discussion. Our coun-
ry has litle appreciaion o he skill, proessionalism, and remarkable work ehic
such people bring o he eors hey make every day o improve he reurn haaxpayers ge on heir invesmen. We would also like o hank Anne Shoup a he
Cener or American Progress, who arranged mos o he inerviews, managed he
ranscrips, and helped in numerous oher ways o make his projec happen.
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32 Center or American Progress | Broken Budgeting
Endnotes
1 For a sampings o vies on the Congressiona BudgetAct and approaches to reorming it, see: H.R. 114 Biennia Budgeting and Appropriations Act o 2011,avaiabe at http://rues.house.gov/legisation/hear-ings_detais.aspx?NesID=692 (ast accessed Juy2012).
2 Scott liy, From Deiberation to Dysunction, Its Time
or Procedura Reorm in the U.S. Senate (washington:Center or American Progress, 2010), avaiabe at http://.americanprogress.org/issues/2010/03/pd/ibus-ter.pd.
3 Minority Sta o the House Appropriations Committee,Grand Od Porkers (November 2003), p.92. XX NOTSURE wHAT THIS IS SO NOT SURE HOw TO CITE? XXCacuations in that report ere based on countingthe number o earmarks isted in the AppropriationBi that passed Congress. See: Making Appropriationsor Agricuture, Rura Deveopment, Food and DrugAdministration, and Reated Agencies or the Fisca Yearending September 30, 2004, and For Other Purposes,avaiabe at http://thomas.oc.gov/cgi-bin/cpquery/R?cp108:FlD010:@1(hr401) (ast accessed Juy 2012).
4 This description as ited rom the name o a bookpubished in 1992, Reinventing Government, How the
Entrepreneurial Spirit Is Transforming the Public Sector, byDavid Osborne and Ted Gaeber.
5 Government Accountabiity Ofce, PerormanceBudgeting: PART Focuses Attention on Program Per-ormance, but More Can Be Done to Engage Congress,GAO-06-28, Report to the Chairman, Subcommittee onGovernment Management, Finance, and Account-abiity, Committee on Government Reorm, Houseo Representatives, October 2005, avaiabe at http://.gao.gov/products/GAO-06-28.
6 John Housha, w. Edards Deming, Expert onBusiness Management, Dies at 93, The New YorkTimes, December 21, 1993, avaiabe at http://.nytimes.com/1993/12/21/obituaries/-edards-deming-expert-on-business-management-dies-at-93.htm?pageanted=a&src=pm.
7 Peter F. Drucker, The New Realities (Portsmouth, NH:Heinemann Proessiona Pubishers, 1989), as quotedby Drucker in Practice, avaiabe at http://.druck-erinpractice.com/quotes.aspx (ast accessed Juy 2012).
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About The Center for American Progress
The Center or American Progress is a nonpartisan research and educational institute
dedicated to promoting a strong, just, and ree America that ensures opportunity or all.
We believe that Americans are bound together by a common commitment to these values
and we aspire to ensure that our national policies reect these values. We work to nd progressive
and pragmatic solutions to signicant domestic and international problems and develop policy
proposals that oster a government that is o the people, by the people, and or the people.
About Doing What Works
CAPs Doing What Works project promotes government reorm to efciently allocate scarce resources
and achieve greater results or the American people. This project specically has three key objectives:
Eliminating or redesigning misguided spending programs and tax expenditures,
ocused on priority areas such as health care, energy, and education
Boosting government productivity by streamlining management and strengthening
operations in the areas o human resources, inormation technology, and procurement
Building a foundation for smarter decision-making by enhancing transparency
and perormance measurement and evaluation