The bill provides $58 billion. The allocation is $57.9 billion. Somebody has to decide whether that's a foul — and almost nobody reads the rulebook they're using. The World Cup is nearing the end. Every goal that counted this tournament went through the same three things:
We tend to remember the Fourth as a shout — the bells, the fireworks, the one line everybody can quote about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Fitting, in a way. Fireworks are loud, brief, and leave nothing to read the next morning. We keep one rowdy image, too: a
The regular appropriations act isn't the last word on a fiscal year. Mid-year, the government's budget gets amended — and supplementals are the main way that happens. Here's how to read one when it lands. On June 24, 2026, OMB transmitted a letter to
The federal government will spend roughly $7 trillion this year. Nearly every dollar of it is on the public record. Now go try to find any of it. You can, technically. The appropriation is in the law. The apportionment is in OMB's portal. The execution is in a
A single subcommittee funds the IRS, the SEC, and the FCC. So why does its bill also tell the entire federal government what it can't do? If you've read Part 4 of our series on How to Read an Appropriations Act, you know the difference between
The House Energy & Water Development mark just came out as H. Rept. 119-667. Most people will read the directives and the narrative. The pros flip to the back first — to a single table that tells you, account by account, exactly what happened. Let's get into it.
GAO released the annual Antideficiency Act reports compilation last month. Nine agencies. Nearly $6 billion in reported violations. And 97% of that traces to one thing: blowing the apportionment. On April 30, GAO released its annual compilation of Antideficiency Act (ADA) reports for fiscal year 2025. Nine federal agencies reported
The most underused resource in the appropriations process. Here's how to mine it for the kind of information that doesn't show up anywhere else. FY 2027 budget hearing are in full swing. Months after the hearing room empties, a bound book lands on GovInfo with everything
This is a supplement to our series on how to read appropriations bills. 1. Where to start? 2. Structure 3. Account Text 4. General and Administrative Provisions 5. Reports and Explanatory Statements 6. Stages of Consideration The earlier posts in this series taught you how to read an enacted appropriations
The budget resolution gave the orders. The committees produced their titles. The Budget Committee stapled them together. Now there's a bill. Here's how to read it — and the surprising thing about most of it is, it doesn't have a dollar figure anywhere in sight.
The budget resolution we covered in Part 1 wasn't just a fiscal plan. If it included reconciliation instructions, it was also marching orders — directing specific committees to produce specific legislation by specific deadlines. Here's how to read those orders. In Part 1, we covered the budget
Buried in the budget resolution are instructions that unlock one of the most powerful, yet complicated, tools in Congress: reconciliation. Here's what it is, why it exists, and how it's evolved from a deficit-reduction mechanism into the primary vehicle for party-line policy. In Part
Budget Process
The President's budget just dropped. Congress will ignore much of it and enact some of it. But before Congress can write its own spending and tax bills, it needs a plan — and that plan is the budget resolution. We just finished a four-part series on the President&
Budget Request
The Appendix has the numbers. The CBJs have the why. But buried on OMB's supplemental materials page are five documents that most people skip — and they're some of the most useful tools in the entire budget release. In Part 1, we covered the Budget Appendix — account-
Budget Request
It's Friday, April 3, 2026. The White House just released the President's FY 2027 Budget Request. Your inbox is blowing up. Here's what you need to know right now. The 60-Second Version Question Answer What just dropped? The 2027 Budget Fact Sheets Is
Budget Request
Last week, the Budget Appendix told you the President requested $8.7 billion last year for Federal Prison System, Salaries and Expenses. Two pages of numbers. No explanation. The Congressional Budget Justification for the Bureau of Prisons? That's where you'll find out exactly why. In Part
Budget Request
The FY 2027 President's Budget Request could drop as early as next week. The Appendix is the heart of the request: 1,200+ pages of account-level detail. This is the document that matters. Let's get into it. The 60-Second Version Question Answer What is
The bill tells agencies what they can spend. The report tells them what Congress actually expects. This is the final part of our series on how to read appropriations bills. 1. Where to start? 2. Structure 3. Account Text 4. General and Administrative Provisions 5. Reports and Explanatory Statements The
The accounts appropriate the money. The provisions set the rules. This is the fourth part of our series on how to read appropriations bills. 1. Where to start? 2. Structure 3. Account Text 4. General and Administrative Provisions 5. Reports and Explanatory Statements The 60-Second Version Question Answer What
A single appropriations account can contain $38 billion, six numbered paragraphs, 49 provisos, an "of which" clause, and span multiple pages. How do you read that? This is the third part of our series on how to read appropriations bills. 1. Where to start? 2. Structure 3. Account
Appropriations
You found the right bill. It's 200 pages. Now what? This is the second part of our series on how to read appropriations bills. 1. Where to start? 2. Structure 3. Account Text 4. General and Administrative Provisions 5. Reports and Explanatory Statements I'll be honest,
Appropriations
Congress passed a 567-page spending bill. You need to find one thing. Where do you even start? This is the first part in our series: How to Read an Appropriations Act 1. Where to start? 2. Structure 3. Account Text 4. General and Administrative Provisions 5. Reports and Explanatory
SF-133
Obligations are promises. Outlays are checks. This is the fourth and final part in our four-part series on the SF-133. 1. What is an SF-133? 2. How to Read an SF-133, Part I: Budgetary Resources (1XXX Lines) 3. How to Read an SF-133, Part II:
SF-133
Congress provided $100 million. What did the agency do with it? This is the third part in our four-part series on the SF-133. 1. What is an SF-133? 2. How to Read an SF-133, Part I: Budgetary Resources (1XXX Lines) 3. How to Read an SF-