Mandatory Spending Has Increased Five Times Faster Than Discretionary Spending

 Everyone wants to know more about the budget and here is some key information with a chart from the Heritage Foundation and a video from the Cato Institute.

Only one-third of the federal budget, discretionary spending, is subject to annual budgets. The remainder, mandatory spending, is set on autopilot without congressional debate and has increased more than five times faster than discretionary spending. Most of the current increase is due toentitlement spending.

INFLATION-ADJUSTED TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS (2010)

In Depth

• Policy Papers for Researchers

  • WEBMEMO ON FEBRUARY 14, 2011President Obama’s 2012 Budget Builds on Failures of the Past
  • WEBMEMO ON MARCH 01, 2011How to Fix the Federal Budget

• Technical Notes

  The charts in this book are based primarily on data available as of March 2011 from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). The charts using OMB data display the historical growth of the federal government to 2010 while the charts using CBO data display both historical and projected growth from as early as 1940 to 2084. Projections based on OMB data are taken from the White House Fiscal Year 2012 budget. The charts provide data on an annual basis except… Read More

• Authors

  Emily GoffResearch Assistant
  Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy StudiesKathryn NixPolicy Analyst
  Center for Health Policy StudiesJohn FlemingSenior Data Graphics Editor