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Saturday, January 31, 2015

Budget Season Begins for Bureaucrats, Congress and Journalists

Two days from now (Monday, Feb. 2), Federal budget season kicks off when the Office of Management and Budget releases the Obama Administration's proposed budget for the fiscal year beginning October 1.

When a was a reporter covering Congress and the U.S. Department of Transportation, I would join a line of journalists outside the Government Printing Office near Union Station waiting for the massive doors to open. We would race up the stairs and receive a stack of bound documents. I'd head back to my office in the National Press Building, grab the first of many cups of coffee and try to figure out what the Administration had in store for transportation funding and programs.

Meanwhile, lawmakers were receiving their own bound copies  of the budget, along with detailed justifications of agency budgets.  In recent years, congressional justifications have been posted on agency websites, making it easier for reporters and even taxpayers to see how the Administration wants to spend money.

After lunch, Federal agencies begin a series of briefings for industry and other stakeholders, followed by press conferences.   Beat reporters focus their questions on major programs and policies, while the trade press scribes get down in the weeds, usually speaking in acronyms and jargonese.

Within a matter of days, Congress begins a series of hearings on the budget during which agency heads defend spending levels and program priorities before lawmakers who have their own priorities.

Let the games begin!