A majority of the federal government’s non-defense discretionary spending in fiscal 2016, a total of $310 billion, will go to programs whose authorization has expired and hasn’t been renewed by Congress, the Congressional Budget Office reported Friday.
Congress appropriated the funds even though the authorization for the programs, originally granted through 256 separate laws, has expired.
Sen. Mike Enzi, chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, drew attention to the report as an example of the budget process breaking apart.
“Alarmingly, this new report indicates that most non-defense discretionary spending is currently being awarded to expired programs,” the Wyoming Republican said in a statement. “Congress should reexamine what we are actually funding in order to improve or eliminate government programs not delivering results.”
The way Congress works is by first authorizing programs, and then passing laws appropriating funding for the programs. The committees that authorize the programs are mean to oversee and set policy for them.
The Congressional Budget Office, Congress’ in-house non-partisan budget agency, reported that spending on unauthorized programs in fiscal 2016 was up from the previous year, when it was $294 billion.
Among the larger unauthorized programs were the National Institutes of Health, which accounted for $31 billion in appropriations for the year, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, or NASA, which received $19 billion.
The report also detailed a host of smaller unauthorized appropriations, such as $3 billion in community development block grants, $10 million for a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration program related to ocean acidification and $5 million for the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.
