.
Selected Agency Budget Justifications for
FY2016
Justin Murray
Information Research Specialist
March 5, 2015
Congressional Research Service
7-5700
www.crs.gov
R43470
c11173008
.
Selected Agency Budget Justifications for FY2016
Summary
This report provides a convenient listing of online FY2016 agency budget justification
submissions for all 15 executive branch departments and 9 selected independent agencies. In most
cases, budget justifications contain more detailed descriptions of the proposals and programs that
are provided in the President’s budget submissions.
This report will be updated to reflect the current budget justifications submissions for the
forthcoming fiscal year.
Congressional Research Service
c11173008
.
Selected Agency Budget Justifications for FY2016
Contents
Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 1
Online Access to Budget Justifications ............................................................................................ 1
Executive Departments .............................................................................................................. 1
Selected Independent Agencies ................................................................................................. 3
Contacts
Author Contact Information............................................................................................................. 4
Congressional Research Service
c11173008
.
Selected Agency Budget Justifications for FY2016
Introduction
Budget justifications are detailed written materials, data, and supporting documents provided by
federal agencies that expand upon and support the President’s yearly budget submission to
Congress.1 In form and content, the justifications may vary by agency. The Office of Management
and Budget (OMB) provides yearly instructions to the agencies for producing materials to be
included in the President’s budget submission and agency budget justifications. Each summer,
OMB issues these instructions as part of a document entitled, Circular No. A-11: Preparation,
Submission, and Execution of the Budget.2
The release of the budget justifications occurs soon after the release of the President’s annual
budget submission and in advance of congressional hearings on agency budget requests.3
Agencies submit budget justifications to the appropriations subcommittees to support the agency
testimony and inform congressional deliberations. Beginning with the FY2008 executive budget
cycle, agencies have also been required to post their congressional budget justification materials
on the Internet within two weeks of transmittal to Congress.4
Online Access to Budget Justifications
Website links to FY2016 budget justification documents for each of the 15 executive departments
and 9 selected independent agencies are provided below.5 Since the organization of the materials
on agency websites can vary, brief guidance for navigating to FY2016-specific materials is
provided below the links as appropriate. Also, in some cases, historical information from prior
fiscal years may also appear or be available through the cited websites.
Executive Departments
Department of Agriculture
http://www.obpa.usda.gov/explan_notes.html
1 Additional details on the proposals and programs may also be available directly from the agencies themselves via
congressional liaison or governmental affairs contacts listed in CRS Report 98-446, Congressional Liaison Offices of
Selected Federal Agencies, by Audrey Celeste Crane-Hirsch. A listing of agencies included within each of the 12
regular appropriations bills is available in CRS Report R40858, Locate an Agency or Program Within Appropriations
Bills, by Justin Murray.
2 Circular A-11 is available on the White House website at http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/
circulars_a11_current_year_a11_toc. See Section 22.6. Note these requirements pertain to executive branch agencies
but not to legislative and judicial agencies.
3 The Office of Budget and Management (OMB) released the President’s FY2016 budget submission on February 2,
2015. The President’s FY2015 budget submission may be accessed at the OMB Budget website at
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget. Additional information on accessing and contents of the FY2015 budget
submission are available in CRS Report R43475, FY2016 Budget Documents: Internet and GPO Availability, by Jared
C. Nagel.
4 See Circular A-11, Section 22.6.
5 These are the nine independent agencies specified under the Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990, P.L. 101-576, 31
U.S.C. §501.
Congressional Research Service
1
c11173008
.
Selected Agency Budget Justifications for FY2016
Department of Commerce
http://www.osec.doc.gov/bmi/budget/FY_2016_CBJ.html
Department of Defense
http://comptroller.defense.gov/budgetmaterials.aspx
Department of Education
http://www2.ed.gov/about/overview/budget/budget16/justifications/index.html
Department of Energy
http://energy.gov/cfo/downloads/fy-2016-budget-justification
Department of Health and Human Services
http://www.hhs.gov/budget
Click on “Budget Justifications to Congress” or scroll down to find links to justification contents
by departmental division.
Department of Homeland Security
http://www.dhs.gov/dhs-budget
See links for “FY2016 Budget-in-Brief” and “Congressional Budget Justification FY2016.”
Department of Housing and Urban Development
http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/program_offices/cfo/reports/fy16_CJ
Department of Interior
http://www.doi.gov/budget/index.cfm
See the link for “Fiscal Year 2016 Interior Budget in Brief.” Scroll down for links to individual
departments and bureaus.
Department of Justice
http://www.justice.gov/about/congressional-budget-submission-2016
Department of Labor
http://www.dol.gov/dol/budget/
Department of State
http://www.state.gov/s/d/rm/rls/ebs/2016/index.htm
Department of Transportation
http://www.dot.gov/mission/budget/fy2016-budget-estimates
Department of Treasury
http://www.treasury.gov/about/budget-performance/Pages/cj-index.aspx
Department of Veterans Affairs
http://www.va.gov/budget/products.asp
See the links for “Current Fiscal Year (2016) Budget Submission” materials.
Congressional Research Service
2
c11173008
.
Selected Agency Budget Justifications for FY2016
Selected Independent Agencies
Environmental Protection Agency
http://www2.epa.gov/planandbudget/fy2016
In addition to fact sheets and summary information on this site, scroll down for link to “FY2016
Justification of Appropriations Estimates for Committee on Appropriations.
Click on “FY2016 Justification of Appropriation Estimates for Committee on Appropriations.”
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) http://www.nasa.gov/news/budget/
index.html
See “Budget Documents released February 2, 2015.”
Agency for International Development (AID)
http://www.usaid.gov/results-and-data/budget-spending/congressional-budget-justification
Click on the link for the “FY2016 Congressional Budget Justification.”
General Services Administration (GSA)
http://www.gsa.gov/portal/content/102463
Click on the link for “FY2016 Congressional Justification”
National Sciences Foundation (NSG)
http://www.nsf.gov/about/budget/fy2016/index.jsp
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/nuregs/staff/sr1100/v31/
Office of Personnel Management (OPM)
http://www.opm.gov/about-us/budget-performance/budgets/#url=Congressional-Budget-
Justification
Small Business Administration (SBA)
https://www.sba.gov/content/fiscal-year-2016-congressional-budget-justificationannual-
performance-report
“Social Security Administration (SSA)
http://www.socialsecurity.gov/budget
Policy analysis for each of the 12 regular appropriations bills are available via the CRS
Appropriations Status Table by clicking on the corresponding CRS report for each bill at
http://www.crs.gov/Pages/AppropriationsStatusTable.aspx. This report provides access for the 15
federal executive departments and 9 independent agencies noted above. Additional budget
submissions to Congress for sub-agencies or quasi-government agencies may also be available
online. An extensive and more comprehensive listing of all federal agencies and offices is
available in the current U.S. Government Manual at http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/GOVMAN-
2013-11-06/pdf/GOVMAN-2013-11-06.pdf.
Congressional Research Service
3
c11173008
.
Selected Agency Budget Justifications for FY2016
Author Contact Information
Justin Murray
Information Research Specialist
jmurray@crs.loc.gov, 7-4092
Congressional Research Service
4
c11173008