The Impact of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 on the Department of Defense Budget.
Abstract
The Congressional Budget Act of 1974 established a 'Committee on the Budget' in both the House and the Senate. The Act also created the Congressional Budget Office to serve both houses of Congress. This study examined the FY 1976 trial budget year and the FY 1977 first budget year procedures under new Congressional process. The Department of Defense budget process was primarily evaluated by looking at the formal and informal interface between the Department of the Army and the Congress during the annual budget cycle. The study concentrated on and documented the step-by-step process used by the Budget Committees in setting the FY 76 defense ceilings and the FY 77 defense targets. The study found that the new process requires more hearings and more support to the new staffers. Responsibility for setting the ceilings on defense expenditures is now clearly vested in the Budget Committees. To date, little progress has been made in setting national priorities. In the FY 78 budget process, it is expected that the Budget Committees will shift from overview hearings on the next FY to indepth hearings on the long range defense issues such as threat, strategy, strategic forces, and general purpose forces. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 28, 1976
- Accession Number
- ADA028264
Entities
People
- John P. Stewart
Organizations
- United States Army War College