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Articles on Congressional Budget Office

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Reinstituted rules in the U.S. House of Representatives allow members to fire federal staffers and cut programs. Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

How the ‘Holman rule’ allows the House to fast-track proposals to gut government programs without debate or much thought at all

House Republicans have adopted a rule used periodically over the past 150 years that allows lawmakers to speed up and streamline votes to dismantle federal programs and fire federal employees.
You know they’re waiting, just anticipating … for CBO figures they don’t yet possess. Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

Congress is waiting on the CBO for its Build Back Better report – but how did fiscal scorekeepers come to be so powerful in politics?

Five Democrats are refusing to vote on a signature bill until the Congressional Budget Office delivers its full cost estimate. For a small agency, the CBO can hold a lot of legislative sway.
Hot off the presses: the CBO plays a pivotal role determining the price tag of measures in the budget and other legislation. Reuters

‘Truth is our only refuge’: why the CBO must remain independent

Congress created the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) 40 years ago to provide lawmakers with information independent of the influence of the executive branch. The CBO’s most important job…

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