CBO

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) is a United States federal agency established in 1974 by the Congressional Budget Act to provide Congress with independent analyses of budgetary and economic issues. It is designed to be nonpartisan and nonadvocacy, producing objective estimates to inform legislative decision-making.

The CBO began operations in 1975 and was created in response to concerns that executive branch budget estimates were biased or lacked transparency. It is part of the legislative branch and operates independently of the Executive Office of the President and of individual congressional committees while serving the needs of Congress.

Functions and outputs. The CBO produces nonpartisan cost estimates for proposed legislation, including the budgetary impact of bills, amendments, and administrative actions. It also provides baseline budget projections, long-term budget outlooks, and analyses of the economic effects of policy changes. In its scoring process, the agency estimates how legislation would affect the federal budget over a specified horizon, typically ten years, using current-law assumptions and alternative scenarios. The CBO issues periodic reports such as the Budget and Economic Outlook, as well as topic-specific analyses and estimates.

Organization and methods. The CBO is headed by a Director, appointed by Congress for a four-year term and serving with staff from various economics, budgeting, and policy disciplines. Its analyses rely on internal models, data, and independent review to maintain objectivity, with the aim of informing lawmakers without advocating particular policy outcomes.

Impact and reception. The agency is widely cited in congressional deliberations and public discourse for its nonpartisan analyses, though it has faced criticism regarding modeling choices, assumptions about future policies, and the inherent uncertainty of budget projections.