Budget Submission After a Presidential Transition: Contextualizing the Biden Administration’s FY2022 Request

INSIGHTi
Budget Submission After a Presidential
Transition: Contextualizing the Biden
Administration’s FY2022 Request
Updated August 11, 2021
Like other newly inaugurated Presidents’ Administrations, the Biden Administration was expected to
submit its first formal budget request to Congress later than the usual January/February statutory deadline.
Unclear in such situations is the timing and format of the formal submission and any preliminary
communications that are sent in advance of the full submission. This CRS Insight discusses the Biden
Administration’s first-year submission of preliminary budget materials in the context of statutory
requirements and past practices.
Background
The Budget and Accounting Act of 1921, as codified in Title 31 of the U.S. Code, requires the President to
submit a budget annual y to Congress toward the beginning of each regular session. The deadline for
submission of the budget has changed several times over the years. Most recently, in 1990, the deadline
was changed to “on or after the first Monday in January but not later than the first Monday in February of
each year.” The 1990 change in the deadline made it possible for an outgoing President to leave the
upcoming annual budget submission to his or her successor, an option that al outgoing Presidents have
taken since then. Following the 1990 change, al of the incoming Presidents have submitted their full
transition-year budgets after the statutory deadline.
In advance of submitting a full budget to Congress, recent Presidents have opted, in the first year of their
Administrations, to present preliminary, shorter budget documents that observers sometimes colloquial y
refer to as “skinny” budgets. In an Administration’s initial year, the full budget submission can be delayed
due to the time needed to establish the new Administration’s priorities and have key nominees confirmed.
In the meantime, these shorter documents typical y contain preliminary budget requests and basic
economic projections. In the past, preliminary budget materials such as these have functioned as a
preview of the complete President’s budget to be submitted to Congress at a later date.
Congressional Research Service
https://crsreports.congress.gov
IN11655
CRS INSIGHT
Prepared for Members and
Committees of Congress

---

Congressional Research Service
2
Prior Submissions of Preliminary Budget Documents
As discussed in another CRS Report, recent Presidents did not submit detailed budget proposals until
April or May of their first year in office, but each advised Congress regarding the general contours of
their economic and budgetary policies in special messages submitted to Congress. In addition, each
President submitted a preliminary budget document, what some observers have referred to as a “skinny”
budget, to Congress providing overviews, summaries, economic plans, and initial budget proposals.
Table 1. Preliminary Budget Submission and Special Messages to Congress
Incoming Reagan Through Trump Administrations
February 18, 1981
President Reagan submitted a document containing an economic plan and initial budget
proposals for FY1982, America’s New Beginning: A Program for Economic Recovery, in
conjunction with an address to a joint session of Congress.
February 9, 1989
President George H. W. Bush did not submit a revision of President Reagan’s FY1990
budget. Instead, he submitted a 193-page message to Congress, Building a Better America, in
conjunction with a joint address to Congress on February 9, 1989. The message included
revised budget proposals.
February 17, 1993
President Clinton submitted to Congress a budgetary document, A Vision of Change for
America, to accompany his address to a joint session of Congress. The 145-page document
outlined the President’s economic plan and provided select budget proposals for FY1994.
February 28, 2001
President George W. Bush submitted a 207-page budget summary for FY2002 to Congress,
A Blueprint for New Beginnings: A Responsible Budget for America’s Priorities, the day after his
address to a joint session of Congress. The document contained the President’s 10-year
budget plan, updated budget summary tables, and proposals for budget process reform.
February 26, 2009
President Obama submitted a 134-page overview of the FY2010 budget, A New Era of
Responsibility: Renewing America’s Promise, two days after delivering an address on his
economic and budget plan to a joint session of Congress on February 26, 2009. The
document contained select proposals for economic stimulus and updated budget summary
tables.
February 28, 2017
On February 28, 2017, President Trump delivered an address to a joint session of Congress.
He submitted a 53-page overview of the FY2018 budget, America First: A Budget Blueprint to
Make America Great Again, 16 days later. The document contained the President’s priorities
and summary tables.
Source: Prepared by CRS. A version of this table was original y created for use in CRS Report RS20752, Submission of the
President’s Budget in Transition Years, by Taylor N. Riccard.
The Biden Administration’s Preliminary FY2022 Submission
On April 9, 2021, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released President Biden’s “Fiscal Year
2022 Discretionary Funding Request.” Observers reported that the Biden Administration did not “intend
to describe it by the popular moniker ‘skinny’ budget.” At the time, it remained to be seen if additional
preliminary materials were forthcoming.
The April 9, 58-page funding request—which is structured as a three-page letter with three enclosures—
“lays out the President’s discretionary funding recommendations across a wide range of policy areas and
outlines a strategy for reinvesting in the foundations of our country’s resilience and strength.” According
to an accompanying press release, the funding request emphasizes investments in policy areas, including
K-12 education, medical research, housing, and civil rights.
President Biden’s discretionary funding request was delivered to Congress approximately two months
later into his first term than preliminary budget documents submitted by Presidents Bil Clinton, George
W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump. The Biden Administration has cited

---

Congressional Research Service
3
a lack of customary cooperation between OMB and the Biden transition team during the presidential
transition as a cause for delay. On May 28, 2021, President Biden submitted his full budget, including
volumes titled Budget of the U.S. Government, Appendix, and Analytical Perspectives.


Author Information

Taylor N. Riccard

Analyst in Government Organization and Management




Disclaimer
This document was prepared by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). CRS serves as nonpartisan shared staff
to congressional committees and Members of Congress. It operates solely at the behest of and under the direction of
Congress. Information in a CRS Report should not be relied upon for purposes other than public understanding of
information that has been provided by CRS to Members of Congress in connection with CRS’s institutional role.
CRS Reports, as a work of the United States Government, are not subject to copyright protection in the United
States. Any CRS Report may be reproduced and distributed in its entirety without permission from CRS. However,
as a CRS Report may include copyrighted images or material from a third party, you may need to obtain the
permission of the copyright holder if you wish to copy or otherwise use copyrighted material.

IN11655 · VERSION 3 · UPDATED

---