The first step in the budget process will be the release of the Administration’s budget, which reportedly will be March 11th. Congress will then need to approve new overall spending levels for FY 2020, which starts on October 1st. If such legislation is not approved, automatic spending cuts, known as sequestration, apply to lower discretionary spending by $125 billion in 2020, which is a 10 percent reduction from 2019. The House Budget Chairman has said that House Democrats will be looking to match any increase in military spending with an equal increase in non-military spending, and he also suggested that the budget proposal could include increases in tax rates for corporations and wealthy individuals. Read more.
