Office of Management and Budget

Office of Management and Budget
Name	Office of Management and Budget
Formed	1921
Preceding1	Bureau of the Budget
Jurisdiction	United States federal government
Headquarters	Eisenhower Executive Office Building
Chief1 name	Director
Parent agency	Executive Office of the President

Contents

Office of Management and Budget The Office of Management and Budget is a central executive office that coordinates United States presidential administrations' fiscal, management, and regulatory priorities within the White House and across federal departments such as the Department of Defense, Department of State, and Department of the Treasury. It advises the President of the United States on budgetary allocations, reviews agency rulemaking under statutes like the Paperwork Reduction Act and the Administrative Procedure Act, and produces materials for the United States Congress including the President’s budget. Directors have included officials with backgrounds in entities such as the Federal Reserve, Brookings Institution, and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is distinct from other agencies like the Government Accountability Office and the Congressional Budget Office.

History

The office traces institutional antecedents to the Bureau of the Budget established under President Warren G. Harding and evolved through reforms during the New Deal and World War II. Reorganization under President Dwight D. Eisenhower moved executive offices into the Eisenhower Executive Office Building adjacent to the West Wing. Major statutory influences included the Budget and Accounting Act of 1921 and later the Budget and Accounting Act amendments, while presidents from Franklin D. Roosevelt to Barack Obama reshaped its role. The office’s influence grew during crises such as the Great Depression, World War II, the 1970s fiscal crisis, and the 2008 financial crisis, intersecting with agencies like the Federal Reserve Board, Department of Justice, and the Office of Personnel Management. Directors have been political appointees confirmed by the United States Senate and have sometimes moved between the office and institutions like the Congressional Budget Office or think tanks such as the Heritage Foundation and the Center for American Progress.

Leadership comprises a Director and Deputy Director nominated by the President of the United States and confirmed by the United States Senate, often working with chiefs overseeing budget, management, and regulatory policy; past Directors have included alumni of the Harvard Kennedy School, Georgetown University, and Columbia Law School. The office is organized into units such as the Budget Review Division, Regulatory Affairs Division, and Legislative Affairs, which interface with cabinet departments including the Department of Homeland Security, Department of Health and Human Services, and Department of Education. It coordinates with interagency bodies like the National Security Council, the Council of Economic Advisers, and the Office of Science and Technology Policy. Career staff frequently have backgrounds at the Government Accountability Office, Internal Revenue Service, Securities and Exchange Commission, or private sector firms such as McKinsey & Company and Goldman Sachs.

The office prepares the President’s budget submission to the United States Congress, evaluates agency budget proposals from entities like the Department of Transportation and the Environmental Protection Agency, and issues guidance on program performance metrics in collaboration with the Office of Management and Budget’s counterparts. It oversees implementation of statutes such as the Information Quality Act and coordinates review of major rules under executive orders issued by presidents including Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, and Donald Trump. The office issues Circulars that guide federal accounting and procurement processes impacting organizations like the Peace Corps, Smithsonian Institution, and General Services Administration. In national security matters it liaises with the Department of Defense and the Central Intelligence Agency for budgeting priorities and program evaluations.

Within the federal budget cycle the office issues guidance for agency budget submissions, reconciles requests with revenue projections from the Department of the Treasury and macroeconomic forecasts from the Council of Economic Advisers, and negotiates offsets with authorizing committees such as the Senate Committee on Appropriations and the House Committee on the Budget. It plays a pivotal role in sequestration compliance established by the Budget Control Act of 2011 and in emergency supplemental appropriations like those for the Hurricane Katrina and the COVID-19 pandemic. The office also interacts with oversight institutions including the Government Accountability Office and the Inspectors General network to ensure financial stewardship and program integrity for programs like Medicare, Social Security, and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

The office exerts policy influence by reviewing regulatory cost-benefit analyses from agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency, Food and Drug Administration, and the Federal Communications Commission, applying principles echoed by international bodies like the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. It convenes interagency working groups on cross-cutting issues spanning infrastructure initiatives like the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and technology policy areas addressed by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. The office shapes implementation of laws including the Paperwork Reduction Act and works with stakeholders such as the United States Conference of Mayors and state governors through the National Governors Association.

Critics have accused the office of politicizing cost estimates, constraining agency mission scope, or imposing analytic frameworks associated with administrations from Richard Nixon to Joe Biden. Debates have arisen over its use of discount rates in cost-benefit analysis as seen in disputes involving the Environmental Protection Agency and litigation in federal courts such as the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Transparency concerns have prompted scrutiny from members of the United States Congress and watchdog groups including the Sunshine Foundation and nonpartisan analysts at the Brookings Institution and Heritage Foundation. High-profile controversies have occurred during budget standoffs with Congress, shutdowns such as the 2013 United States federal government shutdown and the 2018–2019 United States federal government shutdown, and during regulatory rollbacks that prompted legal challenges from states like California and advocacy organizations such as the Natural Resources Defense Council.