Almost all Americans agree that the process to pass a federal budget has become more difficult than scaling Mt. Everest. The 1974 Congressional Budget Act, or CBA, requires Congress to agree on a budget resolution as the framework for tax and expenditure bills. As amended, CBA requires Congress to set a revenue floor and an expenditure ceiling. The spending caps are enforced through sequestration.

If Congress and the president can’t agree on a budget consistent with these rules, sequestration enacts across-the-board spending cuts. CBA also requires Congress to determine debt levels as part of the budget resolution, in conformity with the debt ceiling.