Budget Cycle of the U.S. Term Paper

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S. Government to make future or immediate monetary outlays. In the second subcomponent, the reporting and outlay phase lasts for the duration until the funds are canceled or until the funds are totally disbursed. One should note that these cancellations are in no way connected with cancellations that are connected with budget reductions. These are a separate congressional activity (ibid).

Sometimes spending adjustments are needed during the fiscal year. They may require special reporting and approval procedures by both Congress and OMB. In some instances, an agency can request supplemental funding by submitting a request to the Congress. Mostly, the departments and agencies are required to manage their funds according to their available resources and have only a limited monitoring by the OMB and the Congress during this particular phase of the budget process (Government Printing Office, 29-30).

What is the effect of this system in theory as well as in practice? B. Guy Peters feels that the repetitive nature of the budget cycle is very important; creating more transparency for the agency officials involved who might behave very differently if the system was not configured in such a way (Peters, 2004, 148). This is all very fine in theory, but may translate very differently in practice

However, what happens when you have a budget for a classified or "black" project? Increasingly, this has become the reality of increasing sections of the U.S. intelligence and defense budgets since September 11, 2001. This is a question raised in an insightful article in Wired Magazine by author Noah Schachtman.

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For instance in the fiscal 2010 federal budget, the Pentagon requested $50 billion for classified project. This represented a three percent increase over the previous fiscal year. For aficionados of transparent government, this is a nightmare. Usually, such appropriations will end up in the "research" section of a budget and will consist of a line of zeros (Schachtman, 2009). Of course, Congressional appropriations committees in both the Senate and the House of Representatives have access to this, but they can not divulge the contents to their constituents at home. Certainly, an expert could do so. The expenses for a defense system item tell a lot about the components and structure of the item, its logistical train, etc. (Salla, 2003).

In this paper, we have examined the phases of the Federal government and how it in theory should provide for transparent, representative government where Congressional constituents can see what is being spent and their representatives in Congress can have control over this process. However, in reality, this can become complex in the sheer size and magnitude of the Federal government budget and budget cycle, especially with regard to "black" budget in defense and intelligence budgets. In the opinion of this author, it is precisely these "black" budgets that present the most unique challenge to the American democratic structure. A top priority for public policy makers must be to develop new strategies to deal with this growing government sector and to increase Congressional control over it so it does not get out of the hands of the American.....

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