Options Are Familiar Ones

Many of the recommendations in the CBO report have been raised in similar reports in the past—the report comes out once every year—but have gained relatively little traction on Capitol Hill. Although CBO does not endorse the options it lists, the listing bears CBO’s stamp of approval that they produce savings that it will count as real in the congressional budget process. In the current budget cycle, the White House is not seeking savings in federal employee programs, aside from some often-proposed reforms in the FECA program somewhat comparable to what is in the CBO report. But the CBO report would serve as a useful tool to anyone seeking to use the budget process to limit the federal deficit.