Articles Posted in Legislative Information

Congressional Budget Office (CBO) Report, May 12, 2026.*

CBO estimates that a national missile defense system possessing capabilities broadly consistent with those in the “The Iron Dome for America” executive order would cost about $1.2 trillion to develop, deploy, and operate for 20 years.

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A Congressional Budget Office (CBO) presentation by Phill Swagel, Sean Dunbar, Sarah Masi, and Sarah Sajewski on May 11, 2026

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“This presentation describes CBO’s February 2026 projections of federal subsidies for health insurance, with a focus on Medicare, Medicaid, and premium tax credits. Projected enrollments in those and other programs are discussed, as are the factors that prompted changes to CBO’s projections since January 2025.”

CBO Director Phillip Swagel testifies before the House Appropriations Committee’s Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch, March 18, 2026.

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Chairman Valadao, Ranking Member Espaillat, and Members of the Subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to present the Congressional Budget Office’s budget request. CBO requests appropriations of $76.3 million for fiscal year 2027. Most of that amount—85 percent—would be for pay and benefits; 11.7 percent would be for information technology (IT); and 3.3 percent would be for training, expert consultant services, office supplies, and other items. The requested amount is an increase of $1.5 million, or 2 percent, above the funding provided for this fiscal year.

The House Subcommittee on Government Operations has now concluded its March 17, 2026 hearing on “Oversight of the United States Postal Service: The Financial Future Under Postmaster General David Steiner,” and the message emerging from Capitol Hill is unmistakable: the United States Postal Service (USPS) faces mounting financial pressure, and time to act may be running short. According to the Subcommittee’s official wrap-up, the Postal Service’s “already-troubled financial situation is getting worse,” prompting renewed concern over whether the agency can remain viable without significant structural change.

A System Under Strain

Testimony before the Subcommittee underscored the scale of the challenge. Postmaster General David Steiner pointed to a dramatic collapse in traditional mail volume, from 213 billion pieces annually at its peak to approximately 109 billion today, representing a loss of over 100 billion pieces of mail and tens of billions in lost revenue. At the same time, while USPS has taken steps to increase revenue and reduce costs, those efforts have not kept pace with rising expenses. As the Government Accountability Office (GAO) emphasized, the current trajectory “is not sustainable,” with service performance declining even as costs continue to grow.

Overview of the CBO Report

Congressional Budget OfficeImmigrant Earnings Assimilation, 1981–2021 (Report No. 62202, March 2026)

The report analyzes how immigrants’ earnings evolve after arriving in the United States and how closely their wages eventually approach those of U.S. born workers. Using several decades of census and survey data, the CBO examines the economic process known as “earnings assimilation”, the extent to which immigrants’ wages increase with time spent in the U.S. labor market.

A Report from the Congressional Budget Office, January 30, 2026.

The House Committee on the Budget convened a hearing at which Phillip L. Swagel, CBO’s Director, testified about the agency’s work. This document provides CBO’s answers to questions submitted for the record after the hearing.

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From the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), July 18, 2025.

CBO was asked to assess the effects of a permanent 10 percent reduction in NIH funding and a nine-month increase in FDA review times of new drug applications.

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On July 4, 2025, President Donald J. Trump signed into law H.R. 1, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” enacted as Pub. L. No. 119–21, 139 Stat. ___ (2025). Passed through the budget reconciliation process under the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, this comprehensive legislation represents a central pillar of the Trump administration’s second-term domestic agenda. It enacts sweeping reforms to the federal tax code, restructures discretionary and entitlement spending. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act does not suspend the debt ceiling through FY 2027. Instead, it raises the debt limit by a specific $5 trillion—an amount projected to sustain federal borrowing for roughly one to two years [i.e., until 2026–27, depending on fiscal trends].

Legislative History and Process

H.R. 1 advanced through Congress under budget reconciliation procedures, thereby circumventing the Senate filibuster and requiring only a simple majority for passage. This expedited pathway allowed the bill’s tax and spending provisions to be consolidated into a single legislative package and enacted swiftly along party lines.

Congressional Budget Office (CBO) Cost Estimate July 9, 2025.

In the context of the US Congress, SOPRA refers to the Separation of Powers Restoration Act. It’s a legislative proposal aimed at amending the Administrative Procedure Act to change how courts review agency actions. Specifically, SOPRA seeks to eliminate the practice of “Chevron deference,” where courts defer to an agency’s interpretation of a law if it’s deemed reasonable, and instead require courts to review legal questions de novo, meaning without deference to the agency’s interpretation. 

COST ESTIMATE LETTER JULY 9 2025

Report from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO): July 9, 2025.

The federal budget deficit totaled $1.3 trillion in the first nine months of fiscal year 2025, CBO estimates. That amount is $65 billion more than the deficit recorded during the same period last fiscal year.

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