Today, the president prepares the budget and Congress approves it. This was not always the case. Before 1921, Congress prepared the budget under its constitutional authority to raise taxes and appropriate funds. The president’s role was essentially limited to approving revenue and appropriations bills, just as he approved other pieces of legislation.1
Congressional budgeting (such as it was) worked well enough for the nation of farmers, but not for an industrialized nation with a growing population and ore active government. Soon after World War I, Congress realized that the budget-making process needed to be centralized. Congress retained its constitutional authority to raise and spend funds.2
The national budget is complex. Here are some definitions. The Budget of the United States Government is the annual financial plan that the president is required to submit to Congress at the start of each year. It applies to the next fiscal year (FY), the period the government uses to accounting purposes. Currently the fiscal period runs from October 1 to September 30.…
