How the Congressional Budget Office Earned Its Clout

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As Congress and President Obama raced to avoid defaulting on the nation's debt in the last week before the August 2, 2011, deadline, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) dealt a sharp setback to the debt-reduction bill advanced by House Speaker John Boehner. CBO trimmed Boehner's estimated savings of $1.2 trillion over 10 years to $850 million, forcing House Republicans to revise their plan. Congress and the president ultimately reached agreement with one day to spare, but only after CBO certified that the package would reduce the debt by at least $2.1 trillion over the next decade.

CBO was established by the Budget Act of 1974 to provide Congress with the budget expertise and independent analyses that would give legislators greater capacity to counter presidential budget power. In The Congressional Budget Office: Honest Numbers, Power, and Policy, University of Maryland professor Philip G. Joyce explains how CBO has met--if not exceeded--those expectations. He posits that the CBO serves not only as a check on presidential authority, but it also subjects legislative initiatives to tough scrutiny, as evidenced in this year's battle over the debt ceiling.

A budget expert who worked in CBO's special studies division from 1991 to 1995, Joyce is well positioned to give us a definitive, comprehensive review of CBO and its impact on federal policymaking. The Congressional Budget O ce tells an important story of a federal agency that works: CBO is respected for professional excellence, non-partisanship, and its willingness to "speak truth to power." In a …