Selected Agency Budget Justifications for FY2020

Updated April 10, 2019 (R43470)
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Contents

Summary

This report provides a convenient listing of online FY2020 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.


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 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 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 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 FY2020 budget justification documents for each of the 15 executive departments and 9 selected independent agencies are provided below.5 The organization of the materials on agency websites can vary, therefore brief guidance for navigating to FY2020-specific materials is provided below the links as appropriate. In addition, links to historical information from prior fiscal years may also appear or be available through the cited websites.

Executive Departments

Department of Agriculture
https://www.obpa.usda.gov/explan_notes.html

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

Department of Commerce
https://www.commerce.gov/about/budget-and-performance/FY-2020-congressional-bureau-justification

Historical Department of Commerce budget justification materials back to FY2009 and Budget in Brief documents.
http://www.osec.doc.gov/bmi/budget/default.htm

Department of Defense
http://comptroller.defense.gov/Budget-Materials/

The website includes an index of links to historical Department of Defense budget justification materials back to FY1998 in the banner section at the top of the site.

Department of Education
https://www2.ed.gov/about/overview/budget/budget20/index.html

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

Department of Energy
https://www.energy.gov/cfo/downloads/fy-2020-budget-justification

Historical Department of Energy budget justification materials back to FY2005; scroll to the bottom of the website.
https://www.energy.gov/cfo/listings/budget-justification-supporting-documents

Department of Health and Human Services
https://www.hhs.gov/about/budget/index.html

Historical Department of Health and Human Services budget justification materials back to FY2009 are available toward the bottom of the website.

Department of Homeland Security
https://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 toward the bottom of the website.

Department of Housing and Urban Development
https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/cfo/reports/fy20_CJ

Historical Department of Housing and Urban Development budget justification materials back to FY1998.
https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/cfo/budget.

Department of the Interior
https://www.doi.gov/budget/appropriations/2020

Historical Department of the Interior budget justification materials back to FY2001.
https://www.doi.gov/budget/appropriations/.

Department of Justice
https://www.justice.gov/doj/fy-2020-congressional-budget-submission

Historical Department of Justice budget justification materials back to FY2015.
http://www.justice.gov/doj/budget-and-performance.

Department of Labor
https://www.dol.gov/general/budget

Historical DOL budget justification materials back to FY2008; under "Past Budgets" heading.
https://www.dol.gov/general/aboutdol

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

Historical Department of State budget justification materials back to FY2015 are available on the same site.

Department of Transportation
https://www.transportation.gov/budget

Historical Department of Transportation budget justification materials back to FY2009; under "Budget Estimates" heading.
https://www.transportation.gov/mission/budget/dot-budget-and-performance-documents

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

Historical Department of the Treasury budget justification materials back to FY2007 and budget-related materials back to FY2007 are available by scrolling down on the website.

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

Historical Department of Veterans Affairs budget justification materials back to FY2008 are available toward the bottom of the website.

Selected Independent Agencies

Environmental Protection Agency
https://www.epa.gov/planandbudget/fy-2020-justification-appropriation-estimates-committee-appropriations

FY2019 EPA (prior year) budget justification materials.
https://www.epa.gov/planandbudget/fy-2019-justification-appropriation-estimates-committee-appropriations

Other historical EPA budget justification materials back to FY2011; toward the bottom of the website under "Justification of Appropriations for Committee on Appropriations" heading.
https://www.epa.gov/planandbudget/archive

National Aeronautics and Space Administration
https://www.nasa.gov/news/budget/index.html

Historical NASA budget justification materials back to FY2004 and selected materials back to FY1997 are available toward the bottom of the website under "Previous Years' Budget Requests" heading.

Agency for International Development
https://www.usaid.gov/results-and-data/budget-spending/congressional-budget-justification/fy2020

Historical AID budget justification materials back to FY2001.
https://www.usaid.gov/results-and-data/budget-spending/congressional-budget-justification

General Services Administration
https://www.gsa.gov/reference/reports/budget-performance/annual-budget-requests

Previous GSA budget justification materials back to FY2006 are also available on the website.

National Science Foundation
https://www.nsf.gov/about/budget/fy2020/index.jsp

Historical NSF budget justification materials back to FY1996.
https://www.nsf.gov/about/budget/

Nuclear Regulatory Commission
https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/nuregs/staff/sr1100/v35/

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

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

Historical budget justification materials back to FY2007 are also available on the website.

Small Business Administration
https://www.sba.gov/document/report—congressional-budget-justification-annual-performance-report

This site also has links by fiscal year to annual budget justification and performance report materials back to FY2010.

Social Security Administration
https://www.ssa.gov/budget/

Historical budget justification materials back to FY2008 are available via the tabs at the top of the website.

Additional Information

Policy analysis for each of the 12 regular appropriations bills is available via the Congressional Research Service (CRS) Appropriations Status Table by clicking on the corresponding CRS report for each bill at http://www.crs.gov/AppropriationsStatusTable/Index. Additional budget submissions to Congress for subagencies or quasi-government agencies may also be available online. A more extensive listing of federal agencies and offices is available in the current U.S. Government Manual at https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GOVMAN-2018-12-03/pdf/GOVMAN-2018-12-03.pdf.

Author Contact Information

Justin Murray, Senior Research Librarian ([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 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 https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/a11.pdf. 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 FY2020 budget submission in two installments, on March 11, and March 18, 2019. The President's FY2020 budget submission may be accessed at the OMB Budget website at http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget. Additional information on accessing to, and contents of, the FY2020 budget submission are available CRS Report R43475, FY2020 Budget Documents: Internet and GPO Availability, by Michael Greene and 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.