CBO’s Waterfall Model for Projecting Discretionary Spending, March 2023
Interactive
CBO's interactive tool allows users to simulate the agency's process for projecting discretionary budget authority and outlays for different types of spending over the course of 10 years.
This interactive waterfall model is a simplified version of a model used by CBO analysts to develop the agency's baseline projections of discretionary spending, as well as cost estimates for legislation that authorizes discretionary spending. It is called a "waterfall" model because it allows the user to see how projections of outlays flow from each year's estimated budget authority.
This model is designed to illustrate the methodology CBO uses to project discretionary spending. The budget authority and outlay data generated by the model do not constitute a CBO estimate.
