Averting Sharp Cuts to Nondefense Programs and Investing in America

The House of Representatives is steadily advancing bills to fund the government for next fiscal year—FY 2020—which begins on October 1. These appropriations bills make important investments in areas such as child care, health care, K-12 education, and housing. But without a budget agreement between Congress and the president, these investments cannot happen. Worse, domestic priorities would be subject to severe and harmful cuts from the so-called budget sequester that was enacted nearly a decade ago. It is essential that policymakers reach a budget deal to avert these deep cuts and enable congressional appropriators to continue addressing recent underinvestment in national priorities such as education, science, infrastructure, housing, and poverty reduction.

Background

Discretionary funding is the part of the federal budget that Congress determines annually, as distinguished from mandatory programs that are permanently funded, including Social Security and Medicare. Discretionary spending is often categorized into defense and nondefense. Nondefense discretionary funding (NDD) is only about 15 percent of the federal budget, but it supports a vast array of critical priorities, including public health; federal aid to K-12 education; higher education; affordable housing; job training; consumer protection; nutrition assistance; science and medical research; as well as community and economic development. NDD also funds basic government functions such as federal courts, national parks, federal highways, and the National Weather Service.

Although discretionary spending is categorized into defense and nondefense components, the nondefense portion of discretionary spending is just as integral to the security of the American people as the defense portion. About one-third of nondefense discretionary funding is for homeland security, law enforcement, diplomatic activities, and veterans’ services. And nondefense discretionary funding supports other agencies vested with the responsibility of protecting Americans’ health and safety, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; the Food and Drug Administration; the Environmental Protection Agency; the Occupational Safety and Health Administration; the FBI; and other agencies.

View the complete June 26 article by Seth Hanlon, Alan Cohen and Sara Estep on the Center for American Progress here.