The Budget Control Act: Effects and Unintended Consequences for DoD

Abstract

Since Congress enacted the Budget Control Act of 2011 (BCA), the Department of Defense (DoD) has raised concerns about the cuts from sequestration, limited funding to support troops, unpredictable funding, and instability from year to year. Statutory limits have largely failed to control discretionary spending and reduce deficits and have caused long-term effects on the DoD’s ability to manage its annual operating budget and acquire necessary new technology and systems. As the DoD works to deter, fight, and win the nation’s wars, it cannot afford problems caused by uncertain and unstable funding. However, budget enforcement will be at the forefront of conversations about spending management as the Congressional Budgeting Office (CBO) has reported that the current deficit and debt limits will be unsustainable in the future. While limiting defense spending will not solve all of the problems related to rising deficits and debt, it does hold a prominent place in the conversation about the relationship between budget enforcement and government effectiveness. To determine how much the BCA impacted the stability and predictability of the DoD’s budget, this project describes and compares the impact of the Budget Enforcement Act (BEA) and the BCA on the DoD’s defense-wide budget over time in terms of year-to-year stability and longer-range planning and programming stability.