Criminal Law Library BlogFrom 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.
SUMMARY STATEMENT:
Articles Posted in U.S. Federal Government Information
H.R. 1 (119th Cong.): Summary of the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” *
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.
Congress, the Constitution, and Command: Lawmaking and War Powers in a Divided Government
The legislative branch of the United States government (embodied in Congress, which consists of the House of Representatives and the Senate) is the cornerstone of the federal lawmaking process and a central pillar of the constitutional system of checks and balances. Through its exclusive powers to enact laws, oversee the executive branch, and shape national policy, Congress functions within a broader framework of shared authority known as the separation of powers.
In this posting, we explore key questions surrounding the legislative process, followed by overviews of congressional powers beyond lawmaking, the practical operation of separation of powers, and the exercise of war powers in a divided government. Our goal is to provide material that will be useful to law and legislative librarians, the legal profession at large, and anyone whose work or civic responsibilities require engagement with these fundamental issues.
I. Lawmaking Authority
Federal Mandatory Spending for Means-Tested Programs and Tax Credits
In this June 18, 2025 Report, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) provides information concerning outlays for the government’s major mandatory programs and tax credits that are primarily means-tested and provide assistance to people with relatively low income or few assets.
Summary:
House Budget Committee Chairman Arrington has asked CBO to provide information concerning outlays for the government’s major mandatory programs and tax credits that are primarily means-tested; that is, for programs and tax credits that provide cash payments or other forms of assistance to people with relatively low income or few assets.
How H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, Would Affect the Distribution of Resources Available to Households
From the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), June 12, 2025:*
OVERVIEW:
“This interactive tool illustrates the distributional effects of H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. It allows users to explore how H.R. 1, as passed by the House of Representatives on May 22, 2025, would affect the economic resources available to households grouped on the basis of their income. (See CBO’s estimate of the budgetary effects of the bill.)
Transparency at CBO: Plans for 2025 and a Review of 2024
Congressional Budget Office’s transparency efforts are intended to promote a thorough understanding of its work, help people gauge how estimates might change if policies or circumstances differed, and enhance the credibility of its analyses and processes
SUMMARY:
Transparency is a top priority for the Congressional Budget Office, and the agency continues to bolster its efforts to be transparent. Those efforts are intended to promote a thorough understanding of CBO’s work, help people gauge how estimates might change if policies or circumstances differed, and enhance the credibility of the agency’s analyses and processes.
Is the Balance of Power Shifting? Rethinking Separation of Powers in the U.S. Government
The U.S. Constitution enshrines a system of separation of powers, ensuring that legislative, executive, and judicial branches operate independently while keeping one another in check. This structure is meant to prevent the concentration of power and to safeguard individual liberty. But in recent years, many legal scholars, judges, and concerned citizens have raised a critical question: Has the balance of power shifted too far in favor of the Executive Branch?
Following a brief discussion about what the Founding Fathers believed about separation of powers, this post examines key constitutional flashpoints—executive orders, emergency powers, war powers, pardons, and more—illustrating how modern challenges are testing the limits of our separation-of-powers framework.
What the Founding Fathers Believed About Separation of Powers
Tariffs as an Emergency Power?
From VERDICT, Legal Analysis and Commentary from Justia, 27 March 2025.
SUMMARY:
NYU Law Professor Samuel Estreicher and JD candidate Andrew Babbitt analyze President Trump’s use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) during his second administration to impose and threaten tariffs on several countries. They highlight how this approach bypasses the usual legislative and procedural processes required for implementing tariffs. According to Estreicher and Babbitt, this tactic marks an unprecedented and legally questionable expansion of executive authority—one that sidesteps congressional intent and oversight and raises significant constitutional concerns about the broad, unchecked use of the IEEPA.
CBO Workbook on How Changes in Economic Conditions Might Affect the Federal Budget: 2025-2035
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO)* has created a workbook to allow users to define and analyze alternative economic scenarios by specifying differences in the values of four economic variables relative to the values underlying CBO’s January 2025 projections.
SUMMARY:
This workbook allows users to define and analyze alternative economic scenarios by specifying differences in the values of four economic variables—productivity growth, labor force growth, interest rates, and inflation—relative to the values underlying the Congressional Budget Office’s most recent projections. Those projections were published in The Budget and Economic Outlook: 2025 to 2035.