What are rescissions? Q.What are rescissions? A.The rescission process allows a president to avoid spending money on discretionary programs that has been appropriated by the Congress, but not yet obligated for the purchases of goods and services. Read more about What are rescissions?
What does it mean for a government program to be off-budget? Q.What does it mean for a government program to be off-budget? A.The two Social Security trust funds and the postal service are “off-budget”—their spending and receipts are walled off from the rest of the budget. Putting Social Security and the post office off-budget shields them from some pressures, but policymakers often focus on the unified budget that includes them. A few other agencies are excluded because of their independence (e.g., the Federal Reserve) or private character (e.g., government-sponsored, privately owned entities and funds managed for private citizens). Read more about What does it mean for a government program to be off-budget?
How accurate are long-run budget projections? Q.How accurate are long-run budget projections? A.Budget projections are inevitably uncertain. COVID-19 has pushed deficits far above expectations, for example. On the other hand, interest rates have fallen substantially in recent decades, limiting the debt service costs of rising debt. Despite these and other changes, long-run budget projections consistently show that, under existing policies, the public debt will likely continue to grow faster than the economy. Read more about How accurate are long-run budget projections?
