Can OMB hurdle the New Budget by Inauguration Day?

On November 8, 2016, people from around the country will be lining up to cast their vote for the next U.S. President. Their votes will determine who will lead our nation, government-wide agencies, and administrations. The winning candidate will be sworn into office on Inauguration Day, Friday, January 20, 2017. Once sworn in, the new President can start crafting and addressing his or her new agenda items. One of the most difficult agenda challenges is the U.S. Federal Budget.

In an article from Federal News Radio: 1500 AM by Jory Heckman, the next president’s administration will rely heavily on the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) expertise in crafting a government-wide management agenda for the Federal budget. The Federal budget reflects the activities of the government and over time evolved into a process which the OMB, the Government Accountability Office (GAO), and the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) provide oversight and crucial research to creating the budget. Currently, OMB is trying to work other priorities.

Congress has passed a Continuing Resolution (CR) which will expire on December 9, 2016. Josh Bolten, former OMB Director, said, “It is very hard to focus on anything other than the urgent when you are constantly involved in trying to get Congress to adopt a budget for the year you’re already in…” Kathy Stack, former advisor at OMB, said, “In the coming months, OMB is going to be under tremendous pressure developing the president’s first budget…” This resolution gives OMB less than a month to enforce a wide-ranging fiscal 2017 budget when it continues in November.

St. Michael’s specializes in assisting Federal agencies in all phases of the Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Execution (PPBE) process. For more information, visit our Finance and Accounting Services Page.