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Chairman Kasich and Members of the Committee, thank you for inviting me to testify today on the federal budget process. The overall message of my testimony is that the budget process is working reasonably well as a framework for making and enforcing budgetary decisions. Evidence often cited as proof of the failure of the budget process in fact reflects political disagreement over particular budget policies or outcomes that the process cannot--and probably should not--control in the absence of broad political agreement. With this overall theme in mind, I will briefly review the evolution of the federal budget process, discuss some tentative lessons that can be drawn from recent budgeting experience, and assess some of the recurring criticisms of the process and related reform proposals.

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