As required, CBO reports on whether appropriations enacted for the current fiscal year have exceeded the statutory caps on discretionary spending. In CBO’s estimation, they have not, and a sequestration will not be required for 2017.
In general, after a session of Congress ends, the Congressional Budget Office is required to issue a report that provides estimates of the limits (often called caps) on discretionary budget authority that are in effect for each fiscal year through 2021. As part of that requirement, CBO also must report whether, according to its estimates, enacted legislation for the current fiscal year has exceeded those caps. If so, a sequestration (that is, a cancellation of budgetary resources) would be required.
Normally, CBO’s final sequestration report would be issued 10 days after the end of a session of Congress. This year, however, because appropriations for fiscal year 2017 had not been finalized when the 114th Congress ended on January 3, 2017, the deadline was extended to 10 days after 2017 appropriations were enacted. Those final appropriations were enacted in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2017 (Public Law 115-31), which was signed into law on May 5.
In CBO’s estimation, a sequestration will not be required for 2017. However, the authority to determine whether a sequestration is required and, if so, exactly how to make the necessary cuts in budget authority rests with the Administration’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Those determinations are based on OMB’s own estimates of federal spending.
