Selected Agency Budget Justifications for FY2017

March 8, 2016 (R43470)
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Contents

Summary

This report provides a convenient listing of online FY2017 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.


Selected Agency Budget Justifications for FY2017

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 FY2017 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 FY2017-specific materials is provided below the links as appropriate. Also, in many cases, links to 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

This website includes links to historical budget justification materials back to FY2008.

Department of Commerce
http://www.osec.doc.gov/bmi/budget/FY_2017_CBJ.html

Historical Department of Commerce budget justification materials back to FY2009 are available at http://www.osec.doc.gov/bmi/budget/default.htm.

Department of Defense
http://comptroller.defense.gov/budgetmaterials.aspx

This website includes an index of links to historical Department of Defense budget justification materials back to FY1998.

Department of Education
http://www2.ed.gov/about/overview/budget/budget17/index.html

Historical Department of Education budget justification materials back to FY2011
http://www2.ed.gov/about/overview/budget/news.html?src=rt.

Department of Energy
http://energy.gov/cfo/downloads/fy-2017-budget-justification

Historical Department of Energy budget justification materials back to FY2005 are available at http://energy.gov/cfo/reports/budget-justification-supporting-documents by scrolling to the bottom of this website.

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. Historical Department of Health and Human Services budget justification materials back to FY2009 are available at http://www.hhs.gov/about/budget/index.html by scrolling to the bottom of the website.

Department of Homeland Security
http://www.dhs.gov/dhs-budget

Historical Department of Homeland Security budget justification materials back to FY2010 and budget related materials back to FY2003 are available by scrolling down at this website.

Department of Housing and Urban Development
http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/program_offices/cfo/reports/fy17_CJ

Historical Department of Housing and Urban Development budget justification materials back to FY1998 are available at http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/program_offices/cfo/budget by scrolling down at this website.

Department of Interior
http://www.doi.gov/budget/index.cfm

Scroll down for links to individual departments and bureaus. Historical Department of Interior budget justification materials back to FY2001 are available at https://www.doi.gov/budget/appropriations/.

Department of Justice
http://www.justice.gov/about/fy-2017-congressional-budget-submission

Historical Department of Justice budget justification materials back to FY2009 are available at http://www.justice.gov/about/budget-and-performance by scrolling down at this website.

Department of Labor
http://www.dol.gov/dol/budget/

Historical Department of Labor budget justification materials back to FY2008 are available at http://www.dol.gov/general/aboutdol by scrolling down to the "Previous DOL Budgets" portion of the website.

Department of State
http://www.state.gov/s/d/rm/rls/ebs/index.htm

Historical Department of State budget justification materials back to FY2015 are available at http://www.state.gov/s/d/rm/rls/ebs/index.htm. Budget summary materials are available on this website from FY2011 to FY2014.

Department of Transportation
https://www.transportation.gov/mission/budget/fy2017-budget-estimates

Historical Department of Transportation budget justification materials back to FY2009 are available at https://www.transportation.gov/mission/budget/dot-budget-and-performance-documents by scrolling down to "Budget Estimates."

Department of Treasury
http://www.treasury.gov/about/budget-performance/Pages/cj-index.aspx

Historical Department of Treasury budget justification materials back to FY2007 and budget related materials back to FY2007 are available by scrolling down at this website.

Department of Veterans Affairs
http://www.va.gov/budget/products.asp

Historical Department of Veterans Affairs budget justification materials back to FY2008 are available by scrolling down at this website.

Selected Independent Agencies

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
http://www.epa.gov/planandbudget/fy-2017-justification-appropriation-estimates-committee-appropriations

Historical EPA budget justification materials back to FY1967 area available at http://www.epa.gov/planandbudget/archive. Scroll down to the materials under the heading "Justification of Appropriations for Committee of Appropriations."

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
http://www.nasa.gov/news/budget/index.html

See FY2017 Budget Estimates. Historical NASA budget justification materials back to FY2004 and selected materials back to FY1997 are available by scrolling down to "Previous Year's Budgets."

Agency for International Development (AID)
http://www.usaid.gov/results-and-data/budget-spending/congressional-budget-justification

Click on the link for the "FY2017 Congressional Budget Justification." Historical AID budget justification materials back to FY2001 are available by scrolling down on this website.

General Services Administration (GSA)
http://www.gsa.gov/portal/content/102463

Click on the link for "FY2017 Congressional Justification." Previous GSA budget justification materials back to FY2006 are available on this website.

National Science Foundation (NSF)
http://www.nsf.gov/about/budget/fy2017/index.jsp

Previous NSF budget justification materials back to FY1997
http://www.nsf.gov/about/budget/

Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/nuregs/staff/sr1100/v32/

NRC budget justification materials back to FY2011
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/nuregs/staff/sr1100/

Office of Personnel Management (OPM)
http://www.opm.gov/about-us/budget-performance/budgets/#url=Congressional-Budget-Justification

Click on Fiscal Year 2017 link. Historical budget justification materials back to FY2007 appear on this website.

Small Business Administration (SBA)
https://www.sba.gov/about-sba/sba-performance/performance-budget-finances/congressional-budget-justification-annual-performance-reports/fiscal-year-2017-congressional-budget-justification-annual-performance-report

Historical SBA budget justification materials back to FY2011
https://www.sba.gov/about-sba/sba-performance/performance-budget-finances/congressional-budget-justification-annual-performance-report

Social Security Administration (SSA)
http://www.socialsecurity.gov/budget

Click on "Full Justification of Estimates for Appropriations Committees, February 2016" link. Historical budget justification materials back to FY2014 are available at this website.

Additional Information

Policy analysis for each of the 12 regular appropriations bills is 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 https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/GOVMAN-2014-10-06/pdf/GOVMAN-2014-10-06.pdf.

Author Contact Information

[author name scrubbed], Information Research Specialist ([email address scrubbed], [phone number scrubbed])

Footnotes

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 [author name scrubbed]. 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 [author name scrubbed].

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 FY2017 budget submission on February 9, 2016. The President's FY2017 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 FY2017 budget submission are available in CRS Report R43475, FY2016 Budget Documents: Internet and GPO Availability, by [author name scrubbed].

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. ยง501.