Federal+Spending+on+Social+Programs

In this page you will see that Congress has the power to decide how much money to spend and which social programs they want to spend that money on. Social Spending is approximately 75% of federal spending budget.

According to the Budget and Accounting Act of 1921, the President must submit a budget to Congress each year between the first Monday in January and the first Monday in February. The President’s budget contains detailed information on spending and revenue proposals, along with policy proposals and initiatives with significant budgetary implications. Each year in March, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) publishes an analysis of the President’s budget proposals. CBO computes a current law baseline projection that is intended for the current fiscal year and for the coming 10 fiscal years.
 * __Submitting the Budget:__**

The House and Senate Budget Committees begin consideration of President’s budget proposals in February and March. Other committees with budgetary responsibilities submit requests and estimates to the Budget committees during this time. The Budget committees each submit a budget resolution. The House and Senate each consider those budget resolutions and are expected to pass them, possibly with amendments. Budget resolutions specify funding levels for appropriations committees and subcommittees.
 * __Considering the Budget:__**

__Appropration Bills:__ Appropriations committees, starting with allocations in the budget resolution, put together appropriations bills, which may be considered in the House. Once appropriations committees pass their bills, they are considered by the House and Senate. A conference committee is typically required to resolve differences between House and Senate bills. Once a conference bill has passed both chambers of Congress, it is sent to the President, who may sign the bill or veto. If he signs, the bill becomes law. Otherwise, Congress must pass another bill to avoid a shutdown of at least part of the federal government.

In recent years, Congress has not passed all of the appropriations bills before the start of the fiscal year. Congress has then enacted Continuing Resolutions that provide for the temporary funding of government operations.

The graph above shows exactly how the congress spends our hard money. From the data in the graph, Department of Defense, Treasury Department, and health and human services are the top agencies congress spends money on. Overall, the congress focuses on social spending more than any other department []

Contracts and Assistance Spending in Billions of Dollars 1 (e.g. Social Security)  ||   $768.254    ||   $839.649    ||   $841.514    ||   $947.943    ||   $965.484    ||   $1,004.073    ||   $1,092.675    ||   $10.302    ||   $41.970    ||   $18.109    || The Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency act table shows how much money people spend on contracts, grants, loans and insurants. This website is accessible by the public and includes each Federal award. []
 *   ||  ** FY 2000 **   ||  ** FY 2001 **<span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   ||  ** FY 2002 **<span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   ||  ** FY 2003 **<span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   ||  ** FY 2004 **<span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   ||  ** FY 2005 **<span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   ||  ** FY 2006 **<span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   ||  ** FY 2007 **<span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   ||  ** FY 2008 **<span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   ||  ** FY 2009 **<span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   ||
 * Contracts <span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> ||   $208.314 <span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   ||   $219.231 <span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   ||   $258.980 <span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   ||   $297.828 <span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   ||   $343.227 <span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   ||   $385.148 <span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   ||   $423.435 <span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   ||   $456.979 <span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   ||   $517.898 <span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   ||   $87.056 <span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   ||
 * Grants <span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> ||   $294.511 <span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   ||   $330.738 <span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   ||   $406.158 <span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   ||   $493.288 <span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   ||   $449.620 <span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   ||   $441.030 <span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   ||   $489.056 <span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   ||   $384.212 <span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   ||   $106.464 <span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   ||   $15.853 <span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   ||
 * Loans <span style="border-top-width: 1pt; padding-right: 0in; padding-left: 0in; border-left-width: 1pt; font-size: 7.5pt; border-left-color: windowtext; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-bottom-color: windowtext; padding-bottom: 0in; color: #333333; border-top-color: windowtext; line-height: 115%; padding-top: 0in; border-right-width: 1pt; border-right-color: windowtext; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in;">2 <span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> ||   N/A <span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   ||   N/A <span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   ||   N/A <span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   ||   N/A <span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   ||   N/A <span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   ||   N/A <span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   ||   N/A <span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   ||   $0.409 <span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   ||   $0.626 <span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   ||   $0.036 <span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   ||
 * Insurance <span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> ||   $431.320 <span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   ||   $492.207 <span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   ||   $556.586 <span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   ||   $567.211 <span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   ||   $603.890 <span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   ||   $653.229 <span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   ||   $771.275 <span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   ||   $2.265 <span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   ||   $4.482 <span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   ||   $1.316 <span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   ||
 * Direct Payments
 * Other <span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> ||   $2.816 <span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   ||   $2.675 <span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   ||   $0.233 <span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   ||   $0.691 <span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   ||   $0.413 <span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   ||   $0.392 <span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   ||   $3.991 <span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   ||   $58.686 <span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   ||   $339.352 <span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   ||   $28.160 <span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   ||
 * Total <span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">  ||   $1,705.215 <span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   ||   $1,884.501 <span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   ||   $2,063.471 <span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   ||   $2,306.961 <span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   ||   $2,362.633 <span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   ||   $2,483.872 <span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   ||   $2,780.433 <span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   ||   $912.854 <span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   ||   $1,010.791 <span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   ||   $150.530 <span style="font-size: 8.5pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">   ||

[] On July 29, FedSpending.org was updated with new federal data, which provides site users with full spending data for federal contracts through the first two quarters of FY 2008 and federal assistance data for the first three quarters of FY 2007. This update also made minor site improvements, including added advanced search functionality and bugs fixes. The FedSpending.org database now contains over $18.7 trillion in federal spending dating back to FY 2000. (FY= Fiscal Year; A 12-month period for which an organization plans the use of its funds.)