The Congressional Budget Office requests appropriations of $76.3 million for fiscal year 2027. Most of that amount—85 percent—would be for pay and benefits; 11.7 percent would be for information technology (IT); and 3.3 percent would be for training, expert consultant services, office supplies, and other items. The requested amount is an increase of $1.5 million, or 2 percent, above the funding provided for this fiscal year.

The requested budget is based on continued strong interest in CBO’s work from the Congressional leadership, committees, and Members. For instance, in 2025, CBO supported Congress as it developed and considered the 2025 reconciliation act (Public Law 119-21). Specifically, the agency provided technical assistance, which, for example, kept committee markups on track. It also provided cost estimates and dynamic analysis incorporating economic effects and their feedback to the budget, which provided budgetary and economic information ahead of votes. Throughout, the agency responded promptly to the many separate requests for analysis that came from Members. Providing technical assistance, estimates, analysis, and reports to the 120th Congress as it considers significant legislative initiatives is expected to require additional resources.

The funding that CBO is requesting for fiscal year 2027 would also support efforts to strengthen the agency’s cybersecurity that began this year—including adding layers of security controls to CBO’s IT infrastructure, further strengthening identity and access controls, and improving continuous monitoring and incident response capabilities. In fall 2025, CBO was notified of unauthorized access to a subset of the agency’s emails. Working with security partners, CBO secured its IT environment and is now implementing recommendations to harden it against additional threats. To address the unexpected expenditures, CBO received $2.75 million above its original request for such activities for fiscal year 2026. In total, CBO expects to obligate more than $7.1 million for cybersecurity activities this year.

The added expenses for cybersecurity (even after accounting for the $2.75 million in additional resources) mean that CBO’s funding for other purposes will be flat this year. Because payroll costs will be larger in 2026 than they were in 2025, the agency will need to shrink to about 268 positions (from 274 now) to absorb the additional costs.

The fiscal year 2027 request, which reflects an increase of $1.2 million (or 1.8 percent) for personnel expenses, would enable CBO to grow to 285 employees. That number would allow the agency to better meet its responsibilities under the Congressional Budget Act of 1974. Of the 17 additional staff members CBO would hire in 2027, 6 of them would be for positions that the agency was not able to refill this year after departures. Of the 11 new staff members,

• 4 would improve CBO’s capabilities to provide timely analysis of changes to means-tested programs and defense programs;
• 1 would enhance the agency’s responsiveness and transparency related to cost estimates;
• 1 would improve the agency’s capabilities in dynamic analysis;
• 3 would enhance the agency’s cybersecurity and IT efforts; and
• 2 would support publishing and digital communications, namely, an addition to the editing staff to enhance the readability and accessibility of publications and an addition to the web development team.

For nonpersonnel expenses, CBO’s request includes an increase of $364,000 (or about 3 percent), mostly for IT equipment.

In total, CBO is requesting a 2 percent increase totaling $1.5 million. That constrained increase is possible because certain onetime expenditures for cybersecurity will not recur in 2027. The total amount that CBO plans to devote to cybersecurity activities would remain elevated but decline from the amount this year. In addition, certain personnel expenses, like contributions to the Federal Employee Retirement System, would decline in 2027.

CBO’s Budget Request and Its Consequences for Staffing and Output

In fiscal year 2027, CBO will continue its mission of providing objective, insightful, clearly presented, and timely budgetary and economic information to Congress. The $76.3 million requested would be used mostly for salaries and benefits. (See Appendix A for detailed tables, and see Appendix B for details by object class.)

Funding Request for Personnel Costs and Consequences for Staffing

CBO requests $64.9 million for salaries and benefits to support 285 employees by the end of fiscal year 2027, which equates to 278 full-time-equivalent positions for the year. That amount represents an increase in personnel costs of $1.2 million, or 1.8 percent, from the $63.7 million devoted to such costs this year.

Of the total requested amount:

• $46.7 million would cover salaries—an increase of $1.1 million, or 2.3 percent more than the agency expects to spend on salaries this year. The increase would fund inflation adjustments and performance-based salary increases for current staff in 2027. Employees earning less than $100,000 would receive an across-the-board increase of 3.6 percent, whereas employees earning $100,000 or more (for whom more of their compensation is based on performance) would receive a 1.6 percent increase. The requested increase would also fund the restaffing of 6 positions and hiring of 11 new staff members in 2027.
• $18.1 million would fund benefits—an increase of $113,000, or 0.6 percent, from the amount allocated for such costs this year. The requested amount includes a decrease (set in OMB Circular A-11) in the cost of federal employees’ retirement system benefits and an increase in the cost of federal benefits for the 6 replacements and 11 new hires in 2027.

All told, salaries and benefits for current employees would rise by $1.2 million, and the costs of salaries and benefits for the 11 new hires in fiscal year 2027 would total $800,000.

Funding Request for Nonpersonnel Costs

CBO requests $11.4 million for nonpersonnel costs. That request is an increase of $364,000, or 3.3 percent, from the fiscal year 2026 funding. The requested nonpersonnel funds would mostly fund IT operations—such as cybersecurity, software and hardware maintenance, software development, communications, and purchases of commercial data, artificial intelligence (AI) platforms, and equipment—and would pay for financial management operations (including auditing of the agency’s financial statements), facilities support, editorial support, expert consultant services, subscriptions to library services, training, travel, interagency agreements, office supplies, and other items.

The requested increase would, among other things, allow CBO to strengthen its ability to detect, assess, and recover from cyberattacks and to expand its cloud infrastructure. Much of the agency’s spending on cybersecurity would be used to add layers of security controls to CBO’s IT infrastructure, increase the number of stages when identity is verified, minimize the access granted, and improve continuous monitoring and incident response capabilities. Such efforts would better manage access to data that are essential to CBO’s analyses. (For more information on CBO’s cybersecurity spending, including in response to the incident in 2025, see Appendix C.)

Consequences for Output

The requested funding would allow CBO to produce more analysis for Congress, including in areas in which the agency anticipates additional legislative activity and oversight. It would also allow CBO to provide more technical assistance to committees and Members when they are crafting legislation and provide faster turnarounds when demand surges. In addition to providing major analytical products and assistance, CBO would continue to produce other important material, such as presentations about the agency’s work, letters in response to Members’ questions, and blog posts, and would post additional computer models.

CBO regularly consults with committees and the Congressional leadership to ensure that the agency’s resources are focused on the work that is of highest priority to Congress. The demands on the agency remain intense and strain its resources in many areas. Even with high productivity by a dedicated staff, CBO will not be able to produce as many estimates and other analyses as committees, the leadership, and individual Members request.

CBO’s Role in Support of Congress

CBO was established by the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to provide objective, impartial information to support the Congressional budget process and help Congress make effective budget and economic policy. CBO’s work follows processes specified in that law and subsequent laws or developed over time by the agency in concert with the House and Senate Budget Committees and the Congressional leadership. The agency’s chief responsibility under the Budget Act is to help the Budget Committees with the matters under their jurisdiction. Priority under the law is also given to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees and the House Ways and Means and Senate Finance Committees. The agency also works closely with the leadership of both chambers.

The agency is committed to providing information that is

• Objective and insightful—incorporating the best new evidence as well as the lessons of experience, representing the consensus of experts from around the country (when such a consensus exists) and the diversity of their views;
• Timely—responding as quickly as possible to the needs of Congress; and
• Clearly presented and explained—so that policymakers and analysts understand the basis for the agency’s findings and have the opportunity to question the analysis and the methods used.

CBO strives to present the likely budgetary and economic consequences of proposals being considered by Congress so that lawmakers can make informed policy choices. In keeping with CBO’s mandate to provide analysis that is objective and impartial, the agency makes no policy recommendations.

CBO employs analysts with many types of expertise, who support Congress in collaboration with managers and support staff. As of January 20, 2026, 274 positions at CBO were filled. Health care continues to be the area of analysis requiring the most staff. (For a description of a key staffing change since last year, as well as CBO’s organization charts, see Appendix D.)

Requested Information and Authorities

In this section, CBO provides information about its challenges in accessing federal data, requests the authority to provide a childcare benefit, and addresses requirements to report on recommendations by others.

CBO’s Access to Data

The House Committee on Appropriations directed CBO to report to the committees of jurisdiction any challenges in accessing federal data and to identify whether Congress can take any actions to ensure continuous and real-time access.

CBO obtains from federal agencies a wide array of information, which it uses to produce baseline budget projections, economic projections, cost estimates, and reports. The agency works collaboratively with agencies to obtain the needed data through formal and informal means. The Budget Act provides CBO general authority to access data from a variety of sources. CBO also accesses data by using legal authorities applicable to specific types of data, such as federal tax information. The agency currently has more than 20 active data-use agreements with other federal agencies.

During the fall of 2024, two laws were enacted to improve CBO’s access to data:

• The Congressional Budget Office Data Sharing Act (P.L. 118-89) clarifies and strengthens CBO’s general authority for accessing executive branch data under the Budget Act.
• The Congressional Budget Office Data Access Act (P.L. 118-104) authorizes agencies to disclose to CBO information that is protected by the Privacy Act’s confidentiality requirements, providing CBO the same access to that information as the Government Accountability Office and the Joint Committee on Taxation have.

Enactment of the Congressional Budget Office Data Sharing Act, which amends the Budget Act, highlights CBO’s need for resources to maintain strong IT security measures. Because of the sensitive nature of the data that the amendment provides access to, CBO needs to provide the same level of confidentiality as the law requires of the agency that provides the data. In addition, the legislation required CBO to provide to Congress within one year of enactment a report listing any formal requests for information made to executive branch agencies and any challenges faced, which the agency did (see CBO’s Agreements to Access Data Since September 30, 2024 [September 2025], www.cbo.gov/publication/61548).

CBO has identified an action (previously mentioned in the agency’s fiscal year 2026 budget request and in its report on data use) that Congress can take to improve the agency’s access to information: restoring access to student aid data. CBO has lost access to information that is an important component of the agency’s models of the Federal Pell Grant Program and student loan programs. A change to section 6103 of the Internal Revenue Code would restore that access.

• For many years, CBO received from the Department of Education data on the income of Pell grant and student loan recipients. In summer 2024, the department began receiving certain information about the income of student loan borrowers directly from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), newly making the data federal tax information (FTI) that CBO lacks statutory authority to access. CBO is seeking an amendment to section 6103 of the Internal Revenue Code to allow the agency to again receive those data. CBO receives FTI under section 6103 for other purposes and complies with the IRS’s security requirements.
• Starting this spring, the Department of Education’s change in practice will significantly diminish CBO’s capability to analyze those student aid programs. CBO has been working with the Joint Committee on Taxation and the Education and Treasury Departments, as well as with several Congressional committees (the House Committee on Ways and Means; the House Committee on Education and Workforce; the Senate Committee on Finance; the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions; and the House and Senate Budget Committees) about such an amendment.

As the interests of Congress change, CBO must develop the capacity to analyze new issues and policies. Consequently, the agency will need to obtain new sources of information and might require new specific authorities to do so. CBO will work with the committees of jurisdiction as new challenges arise.

Requested Authority for a Childcare Benefit

CBO is renewing its request for authority to provide a childcare benefit. That authority could be provided as part of the appropriation language:

Provided further, in fiscal year 2027 and each following year, the Director of the Congressional Budget Office may reimburse employees for childcare expenses that relate to their CBO employment.

Alternatively, the authority could be provided as a separate administrative provision:

Sec. ___. In fiscal year 2027 and each following fiscal year, the Director of the Congressional Budget Office may reimburse employees for childcare expenses that relate to their CBO employment.

The benefit would be a cost-effective means to facilitate childcare for CBO employees who require it while doing work for Congress, and it would enhance CBO’s ability to recruit and retain a talented workforce.

The Budget Act states that CBO employees shall have the same employment benefits and privileges as employees of the House of Representatives. Childcare is one of those benefits. Gaining access to the House of Representatives Childcare Center (HRCCC) is challenging for CBO employees, because they are statutorily provided a lower priority than employees of the House [2 U.S.C. § 2062(a)(1)]. As a result, it is generally not possible for CBO employees to enroll their children in the HRCCC at the youngest ages, for which childcare is most needed. CBO staff are also given lower priority than Senate employees to access the Senate Employees Childcare Center. Those difficulties mean CBO employees cannot take advantage of the House and Senate centers, which offer high-quality childcare near their workplace and which can charge lower rates partly because they occupy government-provided space.

The House of Representatives has the authority to pay childcare expenses of lower-income employees under 40 U.S.C. § 590(g)(6). That authority has not been implemented, however, and the income thresholds are likely to miss most employees whom CBO seeks to recruit and retain with this benefit.

CBO requests $65,000 for fiscal year 2027 for childcare reimbursements (embedded in various object classes for benefits).

Requirements to Report on Recommendations by Others

The Good Accounting Obligation in Government Act requires agencies’ budget requests to report applicable public recommendations made by the Government Accountability Office or by an office of inspector general. There are currently no such recommendations for CBO to report.

In addition, the Joint Explanatory Statement accompanying the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, directed each legislative branch agency to provide in its annual budget justification a summary of all open oversight recommendations, to include the reasons that a recommendation remains open and a cost proposal for fully implementing each unresolved recommendation. CBO has no open oversight recommendations to report.

Highlights of CBO’s Work in 2025

In calendar year 2025, CBO continued to provide a significant amount of important analysis to Congress. (For a more comprehensive review of CBO’s work in 2025 than appears here, see Appendix E.)

All told, the agency produced about 800 cost estimates for authorizing bills, responded to thousands of requests for technical assistance, and prepared dozens of reports.

Analyzing the 2025 Reconciliation Act

CBO provided technical assistance and estimates of budgetary effects at each stage of the legislative process for several major pieces of legislation. For instance, CBO supported Congress (both the majority and minority) as it developed and considered the 2025 reconciliation act. The agency provided technical assistance, which, for example, kept committee markups on track; cost estimates and dynamic analysis for legislation, which provided budgetary and economic information ahead of votes; and prompt responses to the many separate requests for analysis that came from Members of Congress. (For details on how CBO supported Congress during the 2025 budget reconciliation process, see Appendix F.)

Meeting Other Legislative Needs of Congress

CBO looks to the Budget Committees and Congressional leadership for guidance about how to align its work with Congressional priorities. The agency’s work for Congress during the 2025 budget reconciliation process illustrates how CBO relied on and responded to such guidance.

Even as CBO provided technical assistance, cost estimates, and other analyses throughout the budget reconciliation process, the agency continued work toward other objectives. For example, the agency supported Congress as it considered the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026 (P.L. 119-60) and the Continuing Appropriations, Agriculture, Legislative Branch, Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and Extensions Act, 2026 (P.L. 119-37)—always with the goal of providing information when it was most useful to Congress.

CBO’s contributions related to those bills included the following:

• Technical assistance (including responses to hundreds of requests for preliminary estimates) to staff members of various House and Senate committees and in leadership offices as they developed legislative proposals,
• Cost estimates providing dozens of pages of detailed information,
• Feedback on thousands of amendments before they were considered on the House or Senate floor, and
• Tables summarizing the bills’ budgetary effects.

Specifically, for the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026, CBO prepared a cost estimate for the House and Senate versions of the bill and reviewed 2,809 amendments. Of those, 704 amendments were reviewed when the bill was being considered by the House Armed Services Committee, 1,296 (submitted by 326 Members of the House) were reviewed before the bill was considered on the House floor, and 809 (submitted by 93 Senators) were reviewed before consideration on the Senate floor.

In 2025, CBO carried out much other work as well, often under tight time constraints. It responded to many other requests for technical assistance, reviewed close to 250 bills considered under suspension of the rules in the House, and compiled 196 scorekeeping tabulations.

Performing Budget and Economic Analysis

CBO released a set of budget and economic projections in January 2025. The agency updated its annual long-term budget projections in March and 10-year economic projections in September. CBO’s baseline budget and economic projections serve as a benchmark for many of the agency’s analytical reports, working papers, and other published documents.

Last year, other publications examined a variety of topics, including the Navy’s shipbuilding plans, federal tax credits that support investment in wind and solar electric power, the effects of immigration on state and local governments, public spending on transportation and water infrastructure, the 340B Drug Pricing Program (which requires pharmaceutical manufacturers to sell outpatient drugs at discounted prices to eligible health care facilities), funding for research and development, and tariffs. CBO aimed to promote a thorough understanding of those topics by clearly presenting its analyses and explaining the basis for them.

All told, CBO prepared 112 reports, working papers, testimonies, slide decks, models, infographics, letters to Members, answers to Members’ questions following hearings, and substantive blog posts. CBO also produced various presentations and spreadsheets.

CBO’s First Goal for 2026 and 2027: Providing Budgetary and Economic Information That Is Objective and Insightful

In 2026 and 2027, CBO will ensure, as it has throughout its history, that its work is objective and insightful. The agency will continue its practice of making no policy recommendations and will continue to strive to present the likely consequences of alternative policy proposals.

Many of the products that CBO will produce this year and next are specified by statute—for example, an annual report on the outlook for the budget and the economy and cost estimates for bills reported by committees. CBO’s other analyses address issues being considered by Congress, provide background information on budgetary and economic conditions that are relevant for the consideration of legislation, or explain the tools that the agency uses to develop its projections and estimates. Many of the specific projects that CBO undertakes this year and next will depend on the agency’s budget, on the legislative agenda, and on requests from Congressional committees and leadership. CBO regularly consults with Members and staff about what topics and types of analyses would be most valuable to Congress, and the agency responds as rapidly as possible to Congressional interest.

The analyses requested by Congress at times involve new and complex issues; even for recurring issues, a constantly changing context creates new challenges. CBO expends substantial resources to understand the substance underlying policy issues and estimate the budgetary and economic effects of legislative proposals. Many of CBO’s analyses involve assembling evidence from numerous sources, determining and synthesizing the implications of that evidence, and building models to quantify effects of specific proposals and variations of them.

To be ready to provide timely responses to requests, the agency makes ongoing enhancements in that development process. For example, CBO is currently improving its capability for analyzing the effects that proposed legislation related to energy, permitting reform, prescription drugs, tariffs, and immigration could have on the federal budget and the economy.

Fulfilling Requests for Technical Assistance

CBO will fulfill thousands of requests for technical assistance as committees are crafting legislation, as amendments to bills are being debated, and at other stages in the legislative process. By law, CBO’s primary responsibility is to Congressional committees, but to the extent practicable, the agency will also provide information to Members’ offices.

Providing Cost Estimates for Authorizing Bills

CBO is required by law to produce a cost estimate for nearly every bill that is approved by a full committee of either the House or the Senate. The agency will also publish cost estimates at other stages of the legislative process if requested to do so by a relevant committee or by the Congressional leadership. Most cost estimates will include analyses of any mandates and associated costs that bills would impose on state, local, and tribal governments or on the private sector. In addition, for bills considered under suspension of the rules in the House of Representatives, CBO will provide estimates of the effects on mandatory spending and revenues.

Producing Cost Estimates for Appropriation Bills

CBO will estimate the budgetary effects of appropriation bills and provide regular status reports on discretionary appropriations and on the effects of appropriation legislation on mandatory spending and revenues. In 2026, CBO will begin posting detailed reports for appropriation bills soon after they are enacted.

Publishing Reports and Other Analyses

CBO will regularly publish projections of budgetary and economic outcomes that reflect the assumption that current laws about federal spending and revenues will generally remain in place. CBO will use its economic forecast as a basis for projecting revenues from each major revenue source, spending for every federal budget account, the resulting deficits or surpluses, and federal debt. Those budget projections—often referred to as CBO’s budget baseline—will provide a benchmark that is used to evaluate the anticipated effects of proposed legislation and to determine whether the legislation is subject to various budget enforcement procedures. Working papers will provide additional details about the budgetary and economic trends underlying the projections.

In addition, CBO will estimate the budgetary effects of the proposals in the President’s budget using the agency’s own economic forecast and estimating methods—the same ones it will use to develop its baseline projections of spending and revenues and to estimate the effects of other spending and revenue proposals. That approach will allow Congress to compare, with a common measure, the various proposals and projections.

CBO will also report on the long-term budget outlook, examining how Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and other parts of the federal budget are likely to be affected beyond the standard 10-year projection period by the aging of the population and growing health care costs per person. In addition, CBO will examine specific issues, such as the costs of the military’s shipbuilding plans.

Furthermore, the agency will provide in-depth analyses of various issues, responding to the interests and concerns of Congressional committees and leadership. Those analyses will address broad budgetary issues and an array of other topics, including health care, national security, income security, education, macroeconomic conditions and problems, trade, financial markets, credit programs, taxes, energy, and infrastructure.

CBO’s Second Goal for 2026 and 2027: Strengthening Responsiveness

CBO seeks to provide information when it is most useful to Congress. Depending on its purpose, that information takes various forms, such as cost estimates, background information, and technical assistance. In almost all cases, CBO completes a cost estimate before legislation comes to a floor vote. In addition, the agency works to provide technical assistance, reports, and other information to lawmakers and their staff during earlier stages of the legislative process.

Beginning in fiscal year 2019, CBO initiated a multiyear effort to strengthen its responsiveness to Congress. To carry out that plan, CBO received additional resources to expand staffing in high-demand areas, such as health care and immigration. It has increased its use of assistant analysts, who can move from one topic to another to support more senior analysts when demand surges for analysis of a particular topic or when additional assistance is needed for a complicated estimate. In addition, CBO continues to engage expert consultants in complex areas, such as health care policy, agricultural and nutrition programs, and economic forecasting. Finally, the agency is continuing to expand its use of team approaches for large and complicated projects. That approach has been particularly effective in enabling CBO to produce timely analyses of legislation involving health care.

CBO’s goal is to increase the number of staff with overlapping skills within and across teams. In some cases, those skills will consist of expertise related to particular topics, such as defense or energy. In other cases, they will be technical, such as the ability to design and improve simulation models. In a similar vein, CBO plans to invest additional resources in bolstering analysts’ ability to coordinate work that requires expertise from across the agency. Another objective is to give additional senior analysts responsibility for projects that span multiple subject areas.

The budgetary increase that CBO is requesting would allow it to bolster its efforts to be responsive. In 2026, CBO plans to hire additional staff to conduct more analysis of changes to means-tested programs and defense programs and of dynamic policy effects (that is, determining how changes in fiscal policies would affect the economy and how those economic changes would, in turn, affect the budget)—areas in which CBO expects Congress to have increased interest. It also plans to hire additional staff to enhance CBO’s responsiveness and transparency related to cost estimates.

CBO’s Third Goal for 2026 and 2027: Enhancing Transparency

CBO works hard to make its analysis transparent and plans to strengthen those efforts, building on the increased emphasis that it has placed on the endeavor over the past several years. In 2026 and 2027, many of CBO’s employees will spend part of their time making the agency’s analyses more transparent.

Testifying and Publishing Answers to Questions

In 2026 and 2027, CBO expects to testify about its baseline projections and other topics in response to requests by Congress. That work will involve presenting oral remarks, answering questions at hearings, and presenting written statements, as well as publishing answers to Members’ questions for the record. CBO will continue to address issues raised as part of the oversight provided by the House and Senate Budget Committees and Congress generally.

Explaining Analytical Methods

CBO plans to publish material providing general information to help Members of Congress, their staff, and others better understand its work, including its general approach and particular applications of its methods. For example, a report will describe the components of federal excise tax receipts and the approaches that CBO uses to project revenues from those diverse components. Working papers, too, will provide such explanations for various topics. In addition, most cost estimates will include a section describing the basis of the estimate.

Publishing Modeling Tools, Code, and Details

In response to Congressional interest, CBO is increasing its efforts to post modeling resources and develop new tools based on its models, while adhering to strict federal standards to ensure that sensitive information is not released.

CBO shares data, code, and other documentation on GitHub, an online platform for such items—and the agency’s website now links to its nine repositories hosted there. Each repository contains documentation that gives a detailed overview of the project’s codebase. In addition to those resources on GitHub, CBO’s website features easy-to-use modeling tools that allow users to adjust policy assumptions or economic conditions to see how outcomes of certain analyses may change.

This year and next, the agency will continue to develop new modeling tools, update the computer code for existing models, and publish information that explains the models and methods used to produce cost estimates and other analyses. For example, CBO will publicly post the models it uses to estimate the budgetary and economic effects of higher tariffs, payment rates in Medicare, and the Social Security trust funds. The agency’s staff will continue to discuss those models and methods with Members of Congress, their staff, and external organizations to gain feedback that helps maintain and improve the quality of CBO’s work.

Releasing Data

In 2026 and 2027, CBO will maintain its practice of publishing extensive sets of data to accompany its major recurring reports, including detailed information about 10-year budget projections, historical budget outcomes, 10-year projections for federal trust funds, revenue projections by category, spending projections by budget account, tax parameters, effective marginal tax rates on labor and capital, and 10-year projections of economic variables, including the economy’s potential (or sustainable) output.

CBO will also provide details about its baseline projections for a wide range of federal programs. They include the Federal Pell Grant Program, student loan programs, Medicare, military retirement, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, Social Security Disability Insurance, Social Security Old-Age and Survivors Insurance, and the Social Security trust funds. In addition, the agency will provide such details for these programs as well: child nutrition programs, the Child Support Enforcement and Child Support Collections programs, foster care and adoption assistance, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Supplemental Security Income, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, unemployment compensation, the Department of Agriculture’s mandatory farm programs, federal programs that guarantee mortgages, programs funded by the Highway Trust Fund, benefits under the Post-9/11 GI Bill, and veterans’ disability compensation and pensions.

Other data will provide details about long-term budget projections, projections underlying Social Security estimates, more than a thousand expired or expiring authorizations of appropriations, and dozens of federal credit programs. When CBO analyzes the President’s budget request, it will post a set of files providing estimates of the budgetary effects of specific proposals. The agency will also continue to post the data underlying various reports’ figures and tables.

Analyzing the Accuracy of CBO’s Estimates

In 2026 and 2027, CBO will continue to release reports analyzing the accuracy of its projections in comparison with actual outcomes, including a review of the accuracy of its outlay and revenue projections for the previous year, as well as some periodic reviews of the accuracy of its projections of revenues, outlays, deficits, and debt over time. CBO will also look back at the accuracy of its cost estimates when practicable.

Comparing Current Estimates With Previous Ones

In several of its recurring publications—reports about the budget and economic outlook and the long-term budget outlook—CBO will continue to explain the differences between the current year’s projections and those produced in the previous year. In its cost estimates, CBO will continue to identify related legislative provisions for which it has provided recent estimates and explain the extent to which the provisions and estimates at hand are similar or different.

Comparing CBO’s Estimates With Those of Other Organizations

CBO will compare its budget projections with the Administration’s and its economic projections with those of private forecasters and other government agencies when possible. In addition, in various reports, the agency will include comparisons of its estimates with estimates made by other organizations. When time does not allow for publication but interest is great, analysts will discuss such comparisons with Congressional staff.

Estimating the Effects of Policy Alternatives

In 2026 and 2027, to assist policymakers and outside experts who may hold differing views about the most useful benchmark for considering possible changes to laws (and to make the consequences of alternative policies more transparent), CBO will estimate the effects that some alternative assumptions about future policies would have on budgetary outcomes.

Characterizing the Uncertainty of Estimates

CBO’s budget and economic estimates will continue to aim to be in the middle of a range of likely outcomes under a given set of policies. The agency’s reports about the 10-year outlook for the budget and the economy, the long-term outlook for the budget, and federal subsidies for health insurance will contain substantial discussions of the uncertainty of CBO’s projections (and the limitations of its analyses) to help policymakers understand the factors that might cause estimates or outcomes to differ in the future. In addition, in most cost estimates in which uncertainty is significant, CBO will include a discussion of the topic.

Creating Data Visualizations

In 2026 and 2027, CBO will provide information about its budget and economic projections in slide decks and create infographics about actual outlays and revenues. The agency will also continue to emphasize producing reports that rely principally on visual presentations.

Conducting Outreach

CBO will continue to communicate regularly with Congressional staff and others outside the agency to explain its findings and methods, respond to questions, and obtain feedback. The agency’s Director will meet frequently with Members of Congress to do the same. After each set of baseline projections is published, CBO’s staff will meet with Congressional staff to discuss the projections and answer questions.

CBO will continue its practice of routinely consulting with many outside experts who represent a variety of perspectives as it develops cost estimates and other analyses. In addition, CBO’s staff will, as usual, give presentations on various topics to Congressional staff and outside experts to gain feedback on the agency’s work. Many reports will benefit from outside experts’ written comments on preliminary versions. For some recurring reports produced on compressed timetables, such as the one about CBO’s long-term budget projections, the agency will solicit comments on previous editions and selected technical issues to incorporate improvements in future editions.

As it does each year, CBO will convene experts on its Panel of Economic Advisers (PEA) and Panel of Health Advisers (PHA), who provide feedback on many topics, including the agency’s forecasting methods and models. The agency hosts meetings of the advisers—once a year with its PHA and twice a year with its PEA—and solicits their views between meetings as well. Congressional staff also attend the meetings. (Lists of the members of those panels and agendas for the meetings can be found on CBO’s website.)

The topics discussed at the meetings usually reflect areas of sustained interest by Congress and help improve CBO’s relevant analysis. For example, CBO’s September 2024 PHA meeting included sessions on new medical technology and the long-term effects of preventive health care, with the goal of improving and enhancing the agency’s analysis of genetic testing for early detection of cancer, hepatitis C, sickle cell disease, and obesity—all topics on which CBO has recently published analyses in response to Congressional requests. To take another example, CBO’s September 2025 PHA meeting included a session on the effects of the drug provisions in the 2022 reconciliation act to discuss lessons learned and remaining questions.

Similarly, meetings of the PEA cover areas of intense Congressional focus as well as CBO’s pending economic forecast. For example, central to the discussion at CBO’s October 2025 meeting were the budgetary and economic effects of tariff policies—an area in which CBO continues to improve and refine its analysis.

In 2027, CBO will spend about $33,000 on its PHA, similar to the amount it spent in 2025 and plans to spend in 2026. That amount provides for a small honorarium for panel members and costs associated with hosting a meeting at CBO. For the PEA, CBO plans to spend about $49,000 to cover the costs of honoraria and two meetings.

CBO’s staff will give presentations on Capitol Hill on CBO’s budget and economic projections, its models, and other topics. In those presentations, CBO will explain its work and answer questions. The agency will also give presentations about its findings and about work in progress in a variety of venues to offer explanations and gather feedback. It will also use blog posts to summarize and highlight various issues. In addition, CBO’s communications staff will work to broaden the agency’s reach in the media, answer questions from the press in a timely fashion, promote accurate press coverage, facilitate interviews with CBO experts when practicable, and connect members of the media with CBO’s products as they are published.

Finally, to keep Congress informed of its work, CBO will continue its practice of sending emails to interested staff notifying them about recently released reports and cost estimates. The agency will also continue publishing a quarterly newsletter, CBO’s Quarter in Review, which is a roundup of the agency’s most recent publications and cost estimates. The newsletter is a companion to quarterly reports listing recent publications and work in progress, which may include reports, working papers, testimonies, models, infographics, and cost estimates.

CBO’s Fourth Goal for 2026 and 2027: Improving Internal Operations

While serving Congress, CBO remains committed to supporting its workforce and maintaining essential infrastructure.

Developing Employees’ Skills

CBO will prioritize professional growth and development to ensure that staff are equipped to use new tools to meet evolving challenges and fulfill the agency’s mission. For example, CBO provides agencywide access to two secure AI platforms for staff to use in their work, such as writing computer code, summarizing draft legislation, and writing documentation. The agency also holds an annual week-long “Code-a-Thon” to explore potential uses of AI and other new technologies to increase the productivity of its staff members.

This year, under a tight budget, the focus has shifted toward cost-effective strategies such as targeted virtual training, internal knowledge-sharing sessions, and collaborative initiatives that maximize impact without significant new expenditures. CBO will continue to encourage participation in key professional development opportunities, with an emphasis on leveraging partnerships and low-cost options to remain engaged with external experts and maintain best practices.

Through its ongoing collaboration with the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights (OCWR), CBO will sustain critical training on workplace rights, discrimination and harassment prevention, and bystanders’ responsibilities—programs essential to fostering a healthy and respectful environment.

Leadership and management development will remain a priority, with streamlined offerings such as condensed workshops on leadership and practical skill-building sessions on project management and resilience.

Maintaining and Improving Technology Infrastructure and Services

For 2026 and 2027, CBO will continue to prioritize the protection of its data and systems by strengthening and expanding its zero trust architecture (which requires verification before granting access to any user or device). That focus has yielded measurable improvements in network security, real-time visibility of the operation of IT systems, and overall IT governance.

CBO has made significant progress in modernizing and hardening its network by adopting improved technologies, stronger encryption standards, and enhanced security services. Investments in modern tools have increased visibility and analytics across the environment, enabling more proactive monitoring, faster response, and better-informed decision-making. In parallel, CBO has refined its approach to device implementation and life-cycle management, improving consistency, oversight, and security.

Key areas of continued focus and improvement include these:

• Network Infrastructure: Strengthening CBO’s security by adding layers of security controls, upgrading the agency’s servers, switches and routers, and increasing the stages when identity is verified.
• Data Loss Prevention: Enhancing tools and policies to better safeguard sensitive information and reduce the risk of data exfiltration.
• Cloud Security Expansion: Expanding and strengthening cloud security services and improving governance and monitoring.
• Artificial Intelligence Strategy and Governance: Developing artificial intelligence strategies and governance frameworks (beyond the initial ones that currently exist) to ensure responsible, secure, and mission-aligned use.
• Endpoint Security: Enhancing detection and response tools and services to improve threat detection, response capabilities, and the visibility of “endpoints” (like desktops and laptops, phones, and servers).
• Incident Response: Strengthening incident response staffing, processes, and governance to improve readiness, coordination, and resilience during security events.

Collectively, those efforts will represent a significant advancement in the maturity of CBO’s IT operations and cybersecurity. Consequently, the agency will be better positioned to manage risk, respond to evolving threats, and thus support its mission.

Appendix A: Detailed Tables

This appendix provides a detailed breakdown of the Congressional Budget Office’s past budgets and appropriations for fiscal year 2026, as well as some additional information.

See Table A-1 for a summary of salaries and expenses;

See Table A-2 for those items broken down by object class;

See Table A-3 for the change in those items between fiscal year 2026 funding and the current request;

See Table A-4 for a staffing summary;

See Table A-5 for supplemental data on mandatory pay increases in CBO’s request;

See Table A-6 for price-level increases in the request;

See Table A-7 for 10-year data on salaries and expenses;

See Table A-8 for spending for advertising services; and

See Table A-9 for projected recruitment expenses.

Appendix B: Detailed Object Class Analysis

The details of the Congressional Budget Office’s requested appropriation for fiscal year 2027 are explained below.

Basis for CBO’s Budget Estimates—Personnel Costs

CBO derived these projections of personnel costs with its internally developed software for tracking current payroll costs and projecting future payroll costs. The projections are based on employee-level payroll data at the object class level.

Object Class 11—Full-Time and Part-Time Employees: $46,739,700

• $45,384,700 for Base Pay—funds an average of 278 full-time-equivalent positions (FTEs) for the fiscal year, which would allow the agency to increase the number of staff members to 285 by the end of the fiscal year. That amount constitutes a net increase of $1,031,400 from the amount CBO expects to spend in fiscal year 2026. Of the increase:
  • $592,000 supports an increase of 5 FTEs in 2027; that increase reflects the hiring of 11 new staff members in 2027.
  • $274,000 is for performance-based pay increases in 2027. CBO uses a performance-based system to reward its employees. Pay increases are based on employees’ accomplishments in the previous year, as reflected in annual performance reviews. Employees’ performance is assessed according to five criteria: quality of work, timeliness and productivity, initiative, written and oral communication skills, and effectiveness of working relationships. Managers’ performance is also assessed according to a sixth criterion, leadership. CBO’s Director makes the final decisions on all pay changes. Maintaining the ability to reward performance is essential in view of the competitive job markets for economists, budget analysts, and other professionals.
  • $243,000 is for an across-the-board pay increase (if such an increase is authorized for executive branch agencies for 2026) in January 2027 of 3.6 percent for staff whose salary is less than $100,000 and 1.6 percent for staff making $100,000 or more.
  • $187,000 is for an increase in costs for other than full-time permanent employees.
  • $100,000 is for prior-year personnel actions (performance-based increases and promotions).
  • A decrease of $323,000 in leave buyout costs ref;ects current data and projected departures in fiscal year 2027.
  • A decrease of $42,000 eliminates a portion of a death benefit that in some years is paid to the family of a staff member who dies while employed by the agency.
• $1,025,000 for Bonuses for Top Performers—funds bonuses that enable CBO to control long-term compensation costs while helping the agency retain its outstanding performers in competitive job markets. The amount is $23,800 more than the amount CBO expects to spend in fiscal year 2026.
• $30,000 for Overtime Pay—funds overtime pay for nonexempt employees. The amount is the same as that in fiscal year 2026. Currently, CBO has 11 employees serving in nonexempt positions, most of whom provide technical support. CBO must pay employees in nonexempt positions overtime if they work more than 40 hours per week, which happens in the rare cases when timely support of Congress would be impaired if the work was not performed.

Object Class 12—Personnel Benefits: $18,117,600

• $9,438,900 for the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) and Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS)—funds mandatory retirement benefits in FERS and CSRS. That amount, which constitutes an increase of $113,600 from the amount CBO expects to spend in fiscal year 2026, is based on several factors: the projected base pay of current employees and ones the agency anticipates hiring, along with anticipated attrition. Benefit rates for 2027 are 25 percent for FERS employees who joined the government before December 31, 2012; 15.96 percent for FERS employees who arrived after that date; and 7.5 percent for CSRS and CSRS Offset employees. (Benefit rates are the percentage of employees’ salaries that CBO is required to pay to the two retirement systems.)
• $2,829,700 for Social Security Payroll Taxes—funds mandatory benefit costs for CBO employees subject to the Social Security payroll tax. That amount, which constitutes a decrease of $11,700 from the amount CBO expects to spend in fiscal year 2026, is projected on the basis of an estimated maximum taxable amount of $184,500 for each employee, along with a reduction for anticipated attrition.
• $2,589,300 for Health Insurance—funds mandatory health benefit costs. That amount constitutes a decrease of $78,100 from the amount CBO expects to spend in fiscal year 2026.
• $1,652,100 for FERS Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) Government Matching Contributions—funds mandatory government matching contributions. That amount, which constitutes a decrease of $82,600 from the amount CBO expects to spend in fiscal year 2026, is projected on the basis of matching benefits for current employees and their current annualized salaries, with a reduction for anticipated attrition. The amount reflects a decrease in agency contribution rates in fiscal year 2027 for FERs (-0.7 percent) and for FERS-Revised Annuity Employees and FERS-Further Revised Annuity Employees (-0.6 percent). The historical matching benefit for CBO has been roughly 3.7 percent of base pay.
• $686,000 for Medicare Payroll Taxes—funds mandatory benefit costs for CBO employees. That amount, which constitutes an increase of $22,300 from the amount CBO expects to spend in fiscal year 2026, equals 1.45 percent of projected pay, accounting for anticipated hires and departures.
• $455,900 for the FERS TSP Government Basic Contribution—funds the mandatory FERS TSP matching benefit of 1 percent. That amount, which constitutes an increase of $13,900 from the amount CBO expects to spend in fiscal year 2026, is projected on the basis of the benefits paid to current employees and their current annualized salaries, with a reduction for anticipated attrition.
• $217,000 for Recruitment Bonuses—funds a valuable recruiting tool for the agency. The amount is an increase of $133,000 from the amount CBO expects to spend in fiscal year 2026.
• $150,000 for the Transit Benefit Program—funds mandatory employee benefits that are associated with CBO’s Transit Benefit Program. The amount is the same as what CBO expects to spend in fiscal year 2026.
• $92,700 for Life Insurance—funds mandatory life insurance benefits for employees. That amount, which constitutes an increase of $2,700 from the amount CBO expects to spend in fiscal year 2026, is projected on the basis of historical data and equals 0.15 percent of base pay.
• $6,000 for the Federal Flexible Spending Account Program (FSAFEDS)—funds mandatory costs for FSAFEDS. That amount, which is the same amount as that provided in fiscal year 2026, is projected on the basis of employees’ historical use of the program.
• $0 for Death Benefit—eliminates a portion ($58,000) of a death benefit that in some years is paid to the family of a staff member who dies while employed by the agency.

Basis for CBO’s Budget Estimates—Nonpersonnel Costs

CBO projected nonpersonnel costs on the basis of past experience and plans for the upcoming year.

Object Class 21—Travel: $110,000

• $110,000 for Travel—funds travel for the outside experts who participate in two meetings of the agency’s Panel of Economic Advisers and one meeting of the agency’s Panel of Health Advisers to support the development and review of the agency’s analyses; also funds travel for employees to attend various conferences and training courses, including management and leadership training. The amount is based on anticipated requirements and is an increase of $25,200 from the amount CBO expects to spend in fiscal year 2026.

Object Class 23—Communications, Utilities, and Miscellaneous Charges: $439,300

• $437,000 for Telecommunications and Telephone Services—funds local and long-distance telephone services, smartphone service for some CBO personnel, and secure telecommunication links to support internet and intranet services. Those links and services between CBO’s offices at the Ford House Office Building and its secondary data center enable the agency’s information technology (IT) staff to conduct daily administrative tasks and to replicate data and systems at both locations so that if a disaster occurred at the Ford Building, the agency could continue operating using systems at the other location. The amount is a decrease of $85,200 from the amount CBO expects to spend in fiscal year 2026 because some costs to upgrade cloud services are onetime and will not recur in fiscal year 2027.
• $2,300 for Mail Service—funds postage, couriers, and mail services. The amount is based on anticipated requirements and is an increase of $800 from the amount allocated for such requirements in fiscal year 2026.

Object Class 24—Printing and Reproduction: $3,100

• $3,100 for Publications—funds the printing of small quantities of publications through the Government Publishing Office (specifically, GPOExpress), as well as other miscellaneous printing requirements involving CBO’s products for Congress. The amount is based on anticipated requirements and is a decrease of $300 from the amount CBO expects to spend in fiscal year 2026.

Object Class 25—Other Services: $9,790,600

• $5,074,100 for IT Commercial Data and Time Sharing—funds support a significant advancement in the agency’s cybersecurity, including strengthening cloud services and platform security, identity and access controls, system logging and access management, network security engineering, system maintenance, and disaster recovery—accounting for more than $3.5 million. About $1 million would pay for various licenses and software for health care analysis, editing, and other IT services. Roughly $564,000 would support purchases of data on health care, domestic and international banking and financial markets, and other topics in support of the agency’s analyses. The amount is an overall increase of $799,400 to continue such efforts.
• $1,811,600 for Other Contractors for Professional Services—funds support for various CBO divisions and units for security and administrative services, work in human resources for a variety of personnel-related costs to include costs for advertising and posting job announcements and records retention, work in IT, editing of some CBO publications, web development, and financial management (to include the agency’s annual financial statement audit and support related to Momentum [the agency’s official accounting system]). The amount is $475,400 more than what the agency expects to spend in fiscal year 2026, mostly to continue efforts to modernize and strengthen CBO’s IT network and cybersecurity posture.
• $1,089,300 for Equipment Maintenance and Repair—funds a broad array of IT items needed for operations. Whenever possible, CBO takes a cost-effective approach to maintenance and repair by negotiating agreements to cover one or more years instead of paying for service and support as they become necessary. The amount, an increase of $262,100, would help maintain platforms for data and would help pay for additional support to strengthen and safeguard the agency’s zero trust architecture (which requires verification before granting access to any user or device).
• $877,000 for IT System Development and Support—funds IT research, maintenance, and program support for major software installations and upgrades to CBO’s network to better defend against cyberattacks. The amount, based on anticipated requirements, is a decrease of $1,598,400 from the amount CBO expects to spend in fiscal year 2026, when the agency is pursuing various onetime projects (involving access control, failover support, and wireless access) for its network.
• $537,400 for Expert Consultants—funds access to outside experts—particularly those in the areas of health care, agricultural programs and nutrition, and economic forecasting—to assist in the preparation of cost estimates and analyses, outside reviews of drafts of analyses, and legal support. The amount, an increase of $129,900 over the amount in fiscal year 2026, would support budget analysis as well as work in national security.
• $277,000 for Training—funds CBO analysts’ participation in conferences and technical training in data analysis (including in statistical analysis software), economic modeling, business and report writing, and IT systems and software, along with management training for supervisors. To constrain expenses in this area, CBO continues to conduct internal training and take advantage of training provided by sister agencies to the extent possible. The amount is based on anticipated requirements and the historical level of such funding; the amount is an increase of $122,300 over the amount CBO expects to spend in fiscal year 2026.
• $118,200 for Interagency Agreements—funds various interagency agreements to include an agreement with the Library of Congress for financial reporting, the National Finance Center for employee timekeeping, and the Office of Personnel Management for credit monitoring services for some staff. This amount is an increase of $12,300 from the amount spent in fiscal year 2025 to support such agreements.
• $6,000 for Official Representation—funds some expenses arising from events such as meetings of the Panel of Economic Advisers and the Panel of Health Advisers, meetings involving other outside analysts, and minority recruitment events. The amount is based on anticipated requirements and is the same as the amount provided in fiscal year 2026.

Object Class 26—Supplies and Materials: $441,500

• $402,500 for Library Subscriptions—funds library (primarily online) subscriptions to a variety of publications and services, including Congressional Quarterly, Lexis-Nexis, EconLit, EBSCO, the Wall Street Journal, Inside Washington Publishers, and Energy & Environment. The amount, an increase of $76,000 from the amount CBO expects to spend in fiscal year 2026, would fund the renewal of some subscriptions to publications on health care and would allow access to some data sources that CBO is unable to pay for in fiscal year 2026.
• $39,000 for Office Supplies—funds expenses for office supplies, reasonable accommodations for employees’ requirements under the Americans With Disabilities Act, paper, envelopes, emergency response kits required for evacuation drills, award supplies, and other items. The amount is an increase of $23,900 from the amount CBO expects to spend in fiscal year 2026, mostly to restore funds reduced in 2026 to support IT demands.

Object Class 31—Equipment: $639,900

• $548,600 for Hardware—funds upgrades of some security systems to help improve network performance, including a firewall needed to defend access to the Capital Metro Area Network. Funding would also go toward purchasing computers (so that the agency can replace hardware that is aging or at the end of its life cycle) and continuing to move workstations to the cloud. The amount is an increase of $133,800 from the amount CBO expects to spend in fiscal year 2026, particularly because several major pieces of hardware will reach the end of their life next year.
• $84,200 for Office Furniture—funds office furniture for new personnel and the replacement of worn-out furniture. The amount, an increase of $79,200 from the amount CBO expects to spend in fiscal year 2026, is based on anticipated requirements and would restore funding for this purpose, which was nearly eliminated in fiscal year 2026.
• $6,600 for Software—funds the upgrade of IT and other software licenses used to support massive file editing and data manipulation and to optimize memory usage. The amount is a decrease of $250 from the amount CBO expects to spend in fiscal year 2026.
• $500 for Books—funds the purchase of books used by CBO’s staff to meet analytical requirements. The amount is the same amount the agency expects to spend in fiscal year 2026.

Appendix C: CBO’s Cybersecurity Activities and Spending

The funding that the Congressional Budget Office is requesting for fiscal year 2027 would support efforts to strengthen the agency’s cybersecurity infrastructure that began this year—including further reducing the number of different systems that could be targets of attacks; adding layers of security controls, using a strategy called defense in depth; and employing a zero trust architecture, which requires verification before granting access to any user or device.

In early November 2025, CBO was notified by Microsoft that a sophisticated threat actor had gained unauthorized access to a subset of the agency’s emails. Working with its security partners in government and industry, CBO ejected the threat actor from the agency’s email system, hardened its cybersecurity and information technology (IT) systems, and investigated the incident.

After thorough investigations, CBO’s security partners have concluded the following:

• Between July and November 7, 2025, the threat actor accessed about 29,500 emails from 22 mailboxes.
• There is no evidence of the threat actor’s continued presence on CBO’s network or systems.
• CBO’s Citrix environment and Cisco Adaptive Security Appliances (ASAs) were compromised; CBO stopped using Citrix and removed the ASAs.

The mailboxes that were accessed indicate that the threat actor was interested in CBO’s work on national security issues as well as CBO’s cybersecurity and leadership. CBO has reviewed the emails that were subject to unauthorized access. None of the email messages contained any classified information. Of the accessed emails, about 2,800—less than 10 percent—included a house.gov or senate.gov address anywhere in the email chain. CBO is conducting a risk analysis.

CBO appreciates the support that the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, the House and Senate Budget Committees, and Congressional leadership have provided to help the agency respond to the security breach and bolster its protections. The cybersecurity response was accomplished in partnership with other legislative branch agencies, including the Capitol Police and Senate Sergeant at Arms, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, within the Department of Homeland Security.

As part of its commitment to transparency, CBO has regularly provided updates to Congress about the cybersecurity incident by conducting closed-door briefings, providing background information, and responding to questions.

To address the unexpected expenditures, CBO received an additional $2.75 million above its original request for such activities for fiscal year 2026. In total, CBO expects to devote more than $7.1 million for cybersecurity activities this year and requests $5.4 million for those purposes in 2027. Next year, the total amount that CBO plans to devote to cybersecurity activities would remain elevated but decline from the amount this year because onetime expenditures for incident response will not recur.

Resources for Cybersecurity Activities in 2026

For fiscal year 2026, CBO’s activities can be organized into three groups. The first set of activities has focused on removing the threat actor and investigating the incident. The second group involves implementing priority projects to reinforce CBO’s cybersecurity and IT systems. The third group involves increasing CBO’s defenses against and resilience to evolving threats to its cybersecurity and IT systems.

Steps CBO has taken or currently taking for initial incident response include these:

• Decommissioned the Citrix environment,
• Removed and replaced ASAs,
• Conducted forensic analysis of components of CBO’s network,
• Switched virtual private network (VPN) providers,
• Reset all of CBO’s email and administrative accounts,
• Reset multi-factor authentication registrations,
• Severed mechanisms that threat actors use to persist in compromised systems,
• Reviewed emails subject to unauthorized access and performing risk analysis,
• Established alternate communication channels, and
• Installing new network hardware (routers, switches, and servers).

As of February 1, 2026, CBO had obligated $1.3 million for contracts for equipment and services to carry out those activities.

Steps CBO is undertaking as priority projects to reinforce its cybersecurity and IT systems include these:

• Configuring the hardware that replaced the ASAs to deploy additional security features,
• Centralizing system logging,
• Auditing its public key infrastructure (managing encryption),
• Strengthening the virtual security operations center (part of intrusion detection and prevention services), and
• Strengthening its virtual desktop infrastructure and associated security controls.

CBO expects to obligate $4.2 million for those activities this year.

Steps CBO is taking to increase its defenses against and resilience to evolving threats include these:

• Enhancing password and authentication controls,
• Expanding the use of intrusion detection and prevention services,
• Hardening CBO websites and expanding monitoring capabilities,
• Augmenting the protection of endpoints (devices such as desktops and laptops, phones, and servers) and response capabilities,
• Enhancing annual testing and assessment activities,
• Developing additional containment and remediation strategies for various types of incidents,
• Enhancing user and entity behavior analytics, and
• Deploying additional network firewalls and monitoring tools.

CBO expects to obligate $2 million for those activities this year.

Resources for Cybersecurity Activities in 2027

The $5.4 million requested for cybersecurity in fiscal year 2027 would be used for the following efforts, which are intended to reduce operational risk, improve resilience, and ensure that CBO’s systems remain secure and compliant as modernization initiatives continue:

• Secure contractor and engineering support to remediate vulnerabilities and improve detection and response capabilities,
• Maintain and strengthen platform and cloud security,
• Enhance identity and access controls,
• Expand centralized logging and monitoring capabilities,
• Provide the network and endpoint security engineering support necessary to sustain secure operations, and
• Expand zero trust capabilities.

Appendix D: Key Staffing Change and Organization Charts

The Congressional Budget Office had one key staffing change among managers in 2025 since it made its previous budget request. After describing that change, this appendix presents the agency’s organization charts.

Key Staffing Change

Tabitha Craig joined CBO in January 2025 as the agency’s Chief Information Security Officer. Reporting to the Chief Information Officer (CIO), she leads the agency’s cybersecurity program, developing and enforcing strategies and policies to protect systems and data, managing risk and vulnerabilities, ensuring compliance, and overseeing incident response. She advises CBO’s senior leadership and the CIO on the security of all information technology (IT) functions, programs, and initiatives—from strategic, capital, and operational plans to day-to-day operations.

Before coming to CBO, Ms. Craig was the Director of Operations Security (OPSEC) at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), where she advised on security strategy, risk management, and compliance and directed programs such as the department’s Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation (CDM) DEFEND E initiative. Serving as the Enterprise Vulnerability Program Manager, she ensured compliance with federal security mandates. Before working at HUD, Ms. Craig served in the Army, from which she retired in 2022. At her last duty station, in Washington, D.C., she supported the readiness and training of commissioned and noncommissioned officers.

She holds an M.S. in information management technology from George Washington University (GWU); her IT credentials and titles include a CIO certificate from GWU, Certified Information Security Manager from ISACA, and Certified CompTIA Security +CE.

Organization Charts

This section shows CBO’s organizational structure and lists the names of all of CBO’s managers.

See Figure D-1, for the organization chart of the entire agency;

See Figure D-2, for the Budget Analysis Division;

See Figure D-3, for the Financial Analysis Division;

See Figure D-4, for the Health Analysis Division;

See Figure D-5, for the Labor, Income Security, and Long-Term Analysis Division;

See Figure D-6, for the Macroeconomic Analysis Division;

See Figure D-7, for the Management, Business, and Information Services Division;

See Figure D-8, for the Microeconomic Studies Division;

See Figure D-9, for the National Security Division;

See Figure D-10, for the Publications and Digital Media Division; and

See Figure D-11, for the Tax Analysis Division.

Appendix E: CBO’s Products and Internal Operations in 2025

During calendar year 2025, the Congressional Budget Office continued to provide Congress with high-quality budget and economic analysis and strived to be as responsive as possible to Congressional needs. That effort took a number of forms, including technical assistance, cost estimates for authorizing and appropriation bills, and analytical reports and other products. The agency also made improvements to its internal operations.

Technical Assistance

In 2025, CBO fulfilled thousands of requests for technical assistance as committees were crafting legislation, as amendments to bills were being debated, and at other stages in the legislative process. The agency’s analysts often provide preliminary estimates to committee staff and the leadership of the House or the Senate, helping them weigh different options for achieving legislative goals. To the extent practicable, CBO also provides information to Members’ offices. The assistance typically happens through a combination of email, phone calls, face-to-face meetings, and virtual meetings.

Key areas of focus for CBO’s technical assistance (including preliminary estimates and information about amendments) in 2025 were annual appropriation bills, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026 (Public Law 119-60), and the 2025 reconciliation act (P.L. 119-21). (For details on how CBO supported Congress during the 2025 budget reconciliation process, see Appendix F.)

Cost Estimates for Authorizing Bills

In 2025, CBO completed 779 cost estimates—mostly to fulfill the statutory requirement to provide estimates of the cost of bills ordered reported by committees. CBO devoted significant resources to analyzing the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026.

Cost estimates generally include explanations of their components and of the estimating methods used. Most also include mandate statements, which assess whether legislation contains intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and, if so, assess the magnitude of the mandates’ effects on the private sector and on state, local, and tribal governments.

CBO published estimates for nearly all of the bills ordered reported by an authorizing committee before they were considered on the floor of either the House or the Senate. CBO also reviewed 236 bills in 2025 that were scheduled to be considered under suspension of the rules in the House.

Cost Estimates for Appropriation Bills

In 2025, CBO devoted significant resources to analyzing the Continuing Appropriations, Agriculture, Legislative Branch, Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and Extensions Act, 2026 (P.L. 119-37), and provided 196 cost estimates for appropriation bills, including reports with account-level detail for individual bills at all stages of the legislative process, summary tables showing the status of discretionary appropriations (by appropriations subcommittee), and running totals of the budgetary effects of enacted legislation on a year-to-date basis. The number of such estimates required for an appropriation cycle can vary depending on its duration and complexity.

Analytical Reports and Other Publications

CBO provides analytical reports and other publications to policymakers throughout the legislative process. In 2025, CBO described its baseline projections in a major report about the budget and economic outlook in January. The agency updated its annual long-term budget projections in March and its short-term economic projections in September. In a number of reports, responding to interest expressed by Members of Congress, CBO provided distributional analyses of policy proposals on the basis of the age or birth cohort, educational attainment, income or wealth, race or ethnicity, or sex of the people who might be affected. For a catalog of that work, see “Distributional Analysis” on CBO’s website, www.cbo.gov/about/distributional-analysis.

All told, the agency produced 112 analytical reports and other publications last year. Seventy of them were reports, working papers, testimonies, slide decks, models, and infographics—which are, as usual, arrayed by topic below. Last year especially, other types of products (letters, blog posts, and responses to Members’ questions following hearings) conveyed substantial analysis, including 16 letters on the 2025 reconciliation process (see Appendix F for more details), 2 blog posts and a letter providing updates on the effects of tariffs implemented throughout 2025, 2 letters on the quantitative and qualitative effects of the government shutdown, a letter on the development of new prescription drugs, and a letter on the effects of immigration on state and local budgets. Other types of publications are presentations and spreadsheets; they are not included in the overall tally.

Projections and Budgetary Issues in Recurring Reports

Expired and Expiring Authorizations of Appropriations: 2025 Final Report (July)

CBO’s 2025 Long-Term Projections for Social Security (June)

Federal Debt and the Statutory Limit, March 2025 (March)

The Long-Term Budget Outlook: 2025 to 2055 (March)

Additional Information About the Economic Outlook: 2025 to 2035 (January)

The Budget and Economic Outlook: 2025 to 2035 (January)

The Accuracy of CBO’s Budget Projections for Fiscal Year 2024 (January)

Monthly Budget Review (12 issues)

General Budgetary Issues

Sequestration 2025: An Update (August)

Dynamic Analysis of Changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in H.R. 1 (Slide deck, June)

Dynamic Estimate of H.R. 1 (June)

The Long-Term Budget Outlook Under Alternative Scenarios for the Economy and the Budget (May)

Final Sequestration Report for Fiscal Year 2025 (March)

The Federal Budget in Fiscal Year 2024 (Set of four infographics, March)

How Changes in Economic Conditions Might Affect the Federal Budget: 2025 to 2035 (March)

Workbook for How Changes in Economic Conditions Might Affect the Federal Budget: 2025 to 2035 (Model, March)

Legislation Enacted in the Second Session of the 118th Congress That Affects Mandatory Spending or Revenues (March)

How Changes in Revenues and Outlays Would Affect Debt Service, Deficits, and Debt (Model, March)

CBO Explains Common Sources of Uncertainty in Cost Estimates for Legislation (February)

CBO’s Waterfall Model for Projecting Discretionary Spending, January 2025 (Model, January)

Unemployment Insurance: Budgetary History and Projections (January)

Climate and Environment/Agriculture

Emissions of Greenhouse Gases in the Agriculture Sector (August)

The Effects of Climate Change on GDP in the 21st Century (Working paper, February)

Defense and National Security

Maintenance Delays for Conventional Navy Ships (December)

Availability and Use of Aircraft in the Coast Guard (November)

Availability, Use, and Operating and Support Costs of F-35 Fighter Aircraft (June)

CBO’s Interactive Force Structure Tool (Model, May)

Projected Costs of U.S. Nuclear Forces, 2025 to 2034 (April)

The Navy’s 2025 Shipbuilding Plan and Its Implications for the Shipbuilding Industrial Base (Testimony, March)

An Analysis of the Navy’s 2025 Shipbuilding Plan (January)

Atlas of Military Compensation, 2024 (Infographic, January)

Economy

CBO’s Current View of the Economy From 2025 to 2028 (September)

CBO’s Current View of the Economy in 14 Slides (Slide deck, September)

CBO’s Economic Forecasting Record: 2025 Update (July)

A Survey-Based Shifting-Endpoint Dynamic Term Structure Model of Interest Rates (Working paper, August)

Understanding the Relationship Between Changes to Federal Fiscal Policy and Near-Term Real GDP Growth (Working paper, February)

Health Care

Growth in the 340B Drug Pricing Program and Its Implications for the Federal Budget (Testimony, October)

Growth in the 340B Drug Pricing Program (September)

Income Distribution

How the 2025 Reconciliation Act (Public Law 119-21) Will Affect the Distribution of Resources Available to Households (Model, August)

How the Effects of Inflation on Households Varied by Income, 1984 to 2022 (Working paper, August)

How H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, Would Affect the Distribution of Resources Available to Households (Model, June)

Sensitivity of the Distribution of Household Income to Capital Gains, 1979 to 2021 (Slide deck, March)

Reconciling the Official Poverty Measure and CBO’s Distributional Analysis of Household Income (January)

Population

An Update to the Demographic Outlook, 2025 to 2035 (September)

Effects of the Surge in Immigration on State and Local Budgets in 2023 (June)

The Demographic Outlook: 2025 to 2055 (January)

Transportation and Infrastructure

Business Tax Credits for Wind and Solar Power (April)

Public Spending on Transportation and Water Infrastructure, 1956 to 2023 (Slide deck, February)

Publications About CBO’s Operations

In addition to its analytical reports, CBO published some reports on its own operations, principally to keep Congress informed about the agency’s work:

How CBO Supported Congress During the 2025 Budget Reconciliation Process (Testimony, November)

CBO’s Recent Publications and Work in Progress as of September 30, 2025 (October)

CBO’s Agreements to Access Data Since September 30, 2024 (September)

CBO’s Recent Publications and Work in Progress as of June 30, 2025 (July)

The Congressional Budget Office’s Request for Appropriations for Fiscal Year 2026 (Senate testimony, April)

Transparency at CBO: Plans for 2025 and a Review of 2024 (April)

The Congressional Budget Office’s Request for Appropriations for Fiscal Year 2026 (House testimony, April)

The Congressional Budget Office’s Request for Appropriations for Fiscal Year 2026 (April)

CBO’s Recent Publications and Work in Progress as of March 31, 2025 (April)

CBO’s Recent Publications and Work in Progress as of December 31, 2024 (January)

Enhancing Transparency

Transparency is an essential part of CBO’s long-standing commitment to providing clear, objective, insightful, and timely information to Congress and the public. In 2025, CBO focused on improving the transparency of its methods and data in a variety of ways:

• Testifying and Publishing Answers to Questions. CBO presented testimony at five Congressional hearings and published a set of answers to subsequent questions from Members of Congress. CBO also responded to occasional requests from Members for public answers to various other questions.
• Explaining Its Analytical Methods. CBO published numerous reports explaining its analyses and made some supporting documents available. For instance, CBO explained key issues the agency might face when estimating the budgetary effects of potential legislation or administrative actions that could release Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from government control. In addition, most cost estimates included explanations of how they were developed.
• Publishing Modeling Tools, Code, and Details. CBO shared data, code, and other documentation on GitHub. In 2025, the agency had nine repositories hosted on the platform, including one for its premium growth model, which allows users to replicate the agency’s projections of health insurance premiums and see how those projections are affected under alternative scenarios.
• Releasing Data. Comprehensive sets of data files of CBO’s projections were published with The Budget and Economic Outlook: 2025 to 2035 and The Long-Term Budget Outlook: 2025 to 2055, for example. Most reports were accompanied by files providing the data underlying the figures and tables. And some reports, such as one on the distribution of household income, included files of supplemental data.
• Analyzing the Accuracy of Its Estimates. CBO published its annual report that assesses the quality of its baseline budget projections for the previous fiscal year and identifies factors that might have led to underestimates or overestimates.
• Comparing Its Current Estimates With Its Previous Ones. In several of its recurring publications, CBO explained the differences between projections made in 2025 and those made in the previous year. In addition, when applicable, cost estimates explained the extent to which they differed from estimates for similar bills earlier in the Congressional session.
• Comparing Its Estimates With Those of Others. CBO regularly compared its estimates with the budget projections of the Administration, with the economic projections of private forecasters and other government agencies, and with the policy analyses of various organizations. For instance, CBO presented outside forecasts along with its January 2025 economic projections. When time did not allow for publishing such comparisons, CBO often discussed them with Congressional staff.
• Estimating the Effects of Policy Alternatives. CBO prepared reports to estimate the effects that various assumptions about future policies would have on budgetary outcomes.
• Describing the Uncertainty of Its Estimates. CBO routinely included a discussion of uncertainty in its cost estimates and in its budget and economic projections. When possible, those discussions included information about how much the estimate could vary if key factors differed from CBO’s estimates. For other publications, the agency also developed likely ranges for some key projections—including projections of federal debt and economic growth. In addition, CBO published an easy-to-use model illustrating the effects of changes in outlays and revenues on net interest costs, deficits, and debt.
• Creating Data Visualizations. To promote understanding of its analyses, CBO published information in alternative formats, such as slide decks, infographics, and a type of report that emphasizes charts. A series of four infographics illustrated spending and revenues in the federal budget.
• Conducting Outreach. The most important form of outreach was direct communication between CBO and Congress in person, by phone, by video conference, and by email. In 2025, CBO’s Director met with dozens of Members of Congress, either individually or in groups. CBO also solicited input from a range of policy experts through its Panels of Economic Advisers and Health Advisers and obtained many external reviews of its work. In addition, CBO’s staff made presentations about the agency’s processes, work in progress, and recently completed work. And the agency published blog posts highlighting key issues.

For a list of transparency efforts, see www.cbo.gov/about/transparency.

Staff Development

In 2025, the agency was able to do much more than the year before to meet its commitment to the professional growth and development of its workforce to ensure that staff were well-equipped to address evolving challenges and fulfill the organization’s mission effectively. That commitment was realized through targeted training programs, collaborative initiatives, and efforts to enhance skills across all divisions and units. CBO also supported the development of its analysts by sponsoring participation in national conferences, allowing staff to engage with external experts and to share insights.

CBO continually strives to use technology to become more productive while enhancing its work for Congress. CBO now provides agencywide access to two secure artificial intelligence (AI) platforms for staff to use in their work, such as writing computer code, summarizing draft legislation, and writing documentation. The agency also holds an annual week-long “Code-a-Thon” to explore potential uses of AI and other new technologies to increase the productivity of its staff members.

Through CBO’s strong partnership with the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights (OCWR), staff were provided with training on their rights as described in the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 Reform Act. Additionally, OCWR provided training on recognizing and preventing discrimination and harassment and bystanders’ responsibilities to intervene. Such training is important to the success of the agency’s workforce and for maintaining a healthy and respectful environment for all CBO staff.

In addition, CBO focused on enhancing the leadership and management skills of managers and employees. The agency implemented a leadership development series for midlevel managers to build strategic planning and team management capabilities and introduced workshops on project management and resilience.

Finally, CBO continued to emphasize the need to clearly communicate the results of analyses by conducting in-house courses on writing reports and creating graphics.

Contracts

As it sought bids from contractors, CBO continued to encourage small businesses to participate by including them in its requests for price quotes and in its market research and, before making an award, by having each prospective contractor identify its type of business and its size. As a result of those efforts, CBO awarded 159 contracts and purchase orders to small businesses in fiscal year 2025. Of those contracts and purchase orders, 21 went to minority-owned businesses and 53 to women-owned businesses.

Information Technology

In 2025, CBO advanced its IT infrastructure by deploying several strategies and technologies to strengthen cybersecurity and operational efficiency, especially because of the cybersecurity incident in November. (For more details about the incident and CBO’s response, see Appendix C.)

Key initiatives included the following:

• Implementing a zero trust architecture (which requires verification before granting access to any user or device), including these:
  • Deploying an enhanced cybersecurity infrastructure portal and security operations capabilities.
  • Enhancing detection and response tools and services to improve threat detection, response capabilities, and the visibility of “endpoints” (like desktops and laptops, phones, and servers).
  • Enhancing virtual private network strategies and near real-time threat monitoring.
  • Implementing advanced network monitoring tools and strategies.
  • Deploying a cloud-based data analysis environment for improved security insights.
• Implementing Microsoft G5 licensing to significantly strengthen the agency’s cybersecurity posture. Aligned with the zero trust architecture, G5 licenses provide more comprehensive security and compliance features than do lower-level licenses. G5 combines advanced threat detection and response for email, endpoints, identities, and cloud workloads with robust data protection, governance, and controls. G5 also enhances identity security. Implementing that set of tools made CBO’s cybersecurity more proactive, efficient, and effective.
• Deploying Microsoft Sentinel to add another layer of security to CBO’s zero trust architecture. Sentinel continuously verifies users, devices, and behavior. Its analytics, threat intelligence, and detection capabilities making use of artificial intelligence are designed to help identify suspicious activity early. Responses like isolating infected devices or blocking malicious activity then happen in an automated way.
• Implementing Amazon Web Services’ GuardDuty across its cloud infrastructure. GuardDuty is a managed threat detection service that continuously monitors cloud accounts, workloads, and data to identify malicious activity and unauthorized behavior. It analyzes various events and logs using machine learning, anomaly detection, and threat intelligence to detect risks like compromised credentials, account misuse, and malware activity. The service provides near real-time alerts, thereby improving cloud security without additional infrastructure.
• Hardening the agency’s Microsoft environment by implementing new server technologies, enhancing security while improving efficiency and reliability.

Appendix F: How CBO Supported Congress During the 2025 Budget Reconciliation Process

The Congressional Budget Office spent much time and effort supporting Congress (both the majority and minority) as it developed and considered the 2025 reconciliation act (Public Law 119-21). This appendix, which reprises most of a testimony by CBO’s Director, provides details about that work—including the agency’s technical assistance, which, for example, kept committee markups on track; cost estimates and dynamic analysis for legislation, which provided budgetary and economic information ahead of votes; and prompt responses to the many separate requests for analysis that came from Members of Congress.1

All of that work epitomizes CBO’s fulfillment of its mission to provide objective, nonpartisan information in support of the Congressional budget process. And in the case of the reconciliation process, the timeliness of the agency’s analysis was of paramount importance. In the course of the work, CBO needed to strike a balance between such timeliness and making the analysis as transparent as possible.

CBO Provided Timely Analysis Throughout the Budget Reconciliation Process

The budget reconciliation process formally began in early April, when Congress agreed to H. Con. Res. 14, a budget resolution that allowed the expedited consideration of bills that would change laws affecting spending, revenues, or the debt limit. The budget resolution included reconciliation instructions directing committees to propose legislation aimed at having a specified effect on the federal budget.

From the passage of H. Con. Res. 14 to the enactment of the reconciliation bill on July 4, 2025, CBO worked to provide technical assistance, cost estimates, dynamic analysis, and other information to Congress (see Figure F-1, see Figure F-2, and see Figure F-3). [https://www.cbo.gov/system/files/2025-11/61763-Testimony.pdf#page=8] The agency’s work on the reconciliation process started many months before that, as the agency began to anticipate the needs of Congress and provide technical assistance.

Technical Assistance

To support the reconciliation process, CBO began providing technical assistance in earnest during the summer of 2024 (some work started earlier), nearly 10 months before Congress agreed to H. Con. Res. 14 and a year before the resulting bill was enacted.

The agency took the following steps:

• Enhanced its analytical capacity in areas that it expected to be of heightened Congressional interest, including dynamic and distributional analysis;
• Responded to thousands of requests for technical assistance while committees were weighing different policy proposals and crafting legislation;
• Provided estimates for various policy proposals as the Budget Committees crafted their budget resolutions; and
• Provided information to or met with various Members of Congress to answer questions.

In fall 2024, for example, CBO staff met with Congressional staff to discuss the agency’s modeling and analysis of the dynamic effects of various kinds of policy proposals, such as changes to the federal process for approving certain infrastructure and energy projects. And in November 2024, CBO and the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) engaged CBO’s Panel of Economic Advisers to think about how the agencies model the economic effects of changes in incentives stemming from the expiration of tax provisions.2 (JCT worked closely with the tax-writing committees to prepare estimates for the tax provisions in the 2025 reconciliation act. For tax legislation, CBO is required by statute to use JCT’s estimates.3 When legislation includes provisions that would change the Internal Revenue Code, as was the case with the 2025 reconciliation act, CBO’s cost estimates include JCT’s estimates of the tax provisions alongside CBO’s estimates of any nontax provisions.)

As a further example, in December 2024, CBO responded to questions about how stronger economic growth that was driven by increased productivity growth would reduce the deficit—a topic of sustained interest for some Members of Congress. Because that type of analysis would not be a part of a conventional cost estimate, providing the information to Members early in the reconciliation process was important. (The agency explained that some outlays would be higher in that situation because stronger growth tends to lead to higher interest rates and thus increases net interest outlays; stronger wage growth in that scenario would translate into increased Social Security payments, and so on. The increased revenues from the stronger growth, however, would far outweigh those additional outlays, resulting in meaningful deficit reduction.)

In spring and winter 2025, CBO worked closely with House and Senate committees as they refined proposals related to immigration, spectrum auctions, Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), oil and gas sales, student loans, and many other topics.4 Providing timely assistance and preliminary estimates to House committees ensured that they could schedule their markups on the timeline specified by the House leadership.

In May 2025, just days before the House was set to vote on its version of the reconciliation legislation—H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act—CBO met at length with Members to discuss various effects of the legislation, such as an earlier phasing in of Medicaid work requirements, effects on the trajectory of federal debt and on debt-service costs, and macroeconomic effects.

Separately, in the weeks leading up to the House’s passing H.R. 1, CBO provided Members with a framework to use when considering the bill’s Medicaid work requirement. The framework showed the effects of some key policy decisions, such as the difference between an optional or mandatory policy or changing policy exemptions to the work requirement. Members were thus provided information about the implications of a range of policy choices for the budget deficit and health coverage.

Estimates of Legislation Ordered Reported

From April 29, 2025, to May 14, 2025, 11 House committees marked up reconciliation recommendations. CBO is required by law to produce a cost estimate when those committees order their legislation to be reported. The agency prepared detailed cost estimates for 8 of the 11 pieces of legislation; the 3 remaining pieces of legislation were still evolving, so CBO focused on providing analysis for modified and new policy proposals rather than on completing a detailed cost estimate for the reported bill. For example, the House Energy and Commerce Committee ordered its bill reported on May 13, but the policy specifications related to Medicaid work requirements and state-directed payments, among others, continued to be revised until just days before the House floor vote on May 22. CBO’s analysts thus worked to provide feedback on the revised proposals.

Ranging from 7 pages to 24 pages long, the cost estimates were completed within 6 to 19 days (an average of 12 days) from when the bill was ordered reported. The estimates provided detailed descriptions of the legislation’s provisions and explained how CBO arrived at its results. When time did not permit publishing a detailed cost estimate (as was the case for the House Committees on Agriculture, Energy and Commerce, and Ways and Means), CBO provided information to help determine whether each committee had followed its reconciliation instructions.

Comprehensive Estimates for the 2025 Reconciliation Act

An important role of the House Budget Committee in the reconciliation process was to assemble the legislative recommendations from other committees into a single omnibus bill. After the bills were combined, CBO and JCT worked together to provide an estimate of that broader reconciliation package. On May 18, the House Budget Committee ordered reported the combined reconciliation legislation. CBO and JCT completed a cost estimate for the bill soon after, on May 20.5

Revised versions of the legislation were introduced on May 19 and May 21, and the bill was passed by the House on May 22. On June 4, CBO provided a comprehensive estimate of the House-passed version of H.R. 1, including an analysis of the interactions among all of the bill’s titles and an analysis by JCT of its tax provisions.6

In late June, during the Senate’s consideration of the bill, CBO published two comprehensive estimates before voting occurred. That was because the Senate used a different budget enforcement baseline than the House. Specifically, CBO prepared one estimate relative to the projected amounts and instructions for consideration in the Senate contained in H. Con. Res. 14, with adjustments regarding current tax policy made by the Chairman of the Senate Committee on the Budget. Because CBO aimed to provide complete information about the bill’s budgetary effects, the agency published another estimate relative to the budget baseline specified in the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985.

After the Senate released its legislative language on the evening of June 27, CBO and JCT published an estimate on June 28 relative to the budget enforcement baseline for consideration in the Senate.7 Then, less than 12 hours later, CBO published an estimate relative to its January 2025 baseline budget projections.8

Before the House gave final consideration to the reconciliation bill, CBO provided summary information on July 1 about the total budgetary effects of the bill as passed by the Senate—the same day that the Senate voted on the bill and two days ahead of the House vote on July 3.9

Dynamic Analysis

House Rule XIII(8) requires CBO and JCT to provide dynamic estimates, to the extent practicable, for major legislation. Producing such estimates takes additional time, which is why the joint CBO–JCT dynamic estimate for H.R. 1 was released on June 17, two weeks after the conventional cost estimate for the legislation.10 (JCT prepared the analysis of the effects of the tax provisions on the overall economy.) At the same time, CBO published a blog post providing additional context for the dynamic analysis.11 In the conventional estimates, the bill’s tax provisions had the largest budgetary effects, and the same was true in the dynamic estimates. Thus, the projected macroeconomic effects of H.R. 1 in the joint dynamic estimate were driven mainly by JCT’s analysis of the bill’s tax provisions.

CBO provided a detailed analysis of the budgetary and economic effects of the 2025 reconciliation act in the most recent edition of The Budget and Economic Outlook, just published in February 2026.12 That update to the budget baseline also incorporated CBO’s analysis of the budgetary and economic effects of higher tariffs and lower immigration since the baseline was last updated on January 17, 2025.

To provide transparency about its methods related to dynamic analysis and gain feedback about them, CBO gave a presentation about those methods to its Panel of Economic Advisers on June 6, 2025, using provisions affecting SNAP in H.R. 1 to illustrate the analytic process.13 CBO and JCT also met with the Republican Study Committee in April 2025 to answer questions about how the two agencies develop estimates of the budgetary and economic effects of legislation, how debt is accounted for, how the agencies collaborate and resolve differences in methodologies, how effects are incorporated into CBO’s baseline projections, and how CBO models changes in energy production.14 And four months before that, the two agencies presented their approaches to modeling expiring tax provisions at a seminar hosted by a think tank.15

Analysis Related to Senate Rules

The analysis that CBO and JCT provide can inform lawmakers as they look to ensure that reconciliation legislation complies with Senate rules that govern the process. An example of such a rule is the “Byrd rule,” which limits the provisions that can be included in a reconciliation package. CBO does not enforce those rules—that responsibility is left to the Senate. CBO provides information to the committees, which then engage with the Senate parliamentarian (with whom CBO does not interact). During June 2025, CBO responded to about 5,300 requests from Congressional staff seeking information on certain spending provisions to help inform their discussions about compliance with the “Byrd rule.” In addition, CBO and JCT provided responses to questions about the legislation’s tax provisions.

Separate Requests From Members of Congress

From May 2025 to August 2025, CBO responded to Members’ requests for additional analysis while providing preliminary estimates, technical assistance, and cost estimates as Congressional staff continued to draft and refine the legislation. CBO also provided analyses after the 2025 reconciliation act became law.

Those responses comprised the following:

• A letter clarifying marketplace coverage and eligibility under P.L. 119-21 and the 2025 Marketplace Integrity and Affordability Rule;16
• A letter about the effects of a potential sequestration (cancellation of budgetary resources) in accordance with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010;17
• A letter estimating the effects on deficits and the debt of P.L. 119-21 and of making certain tax policies in the act permanent;18
• A preliminary and a more detailed analysis of H.R. 1’s distributional effects, an analysis of the distributional effects of the enacted bill, and interactive tools for both the House-passed and enacted versions of the legislation;19
• Assessments of the effects on deficits and the debt of enacting H.R. 1 and of permanently extending certain tax provisions in the bill;20
• Information about the change in the number of uninsured people in 2034 that would result from the enactment of H.R. 1, in comparison with the changes from two policies included in CBO’s baseline projections;21
• Information about the effects of the reconciliation recommendations of the House Committee on Agriculture for participation in and benefits under SNAP;22
• A letter providing estimated changes in health insurance coverage and additional information about title IV of H.R. 1, which is related to Medicaid;23
• An assessment of how legislation that would increase deficits would affect sequestration of budgetary resources for Medicare and other direct spending programs;24 and
• Information about the budgetary effects of an Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute to H.R. 1, as well as further information about the budgetary effects of title VII, Finance, within that amendment.25

Transparency Is One of CBO’s Fundamental Goals

Provisions in the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 require CBO to do the following:

• Develop baseline budget estimates,
• Provide technical assistance as legislation is being developed,
• Produce cost estimates for active legislation, and
• Provide other information, including transparency about completed estimates.

The agency thus regards transparency as a fundamental and constant objective. The agency also recognizes, however, that a balance must be struck between responsiveness and transparency, and it relies on guidance from Congress to help strike that balance.

In particular, CBO looks to the Budget Committees and Congressional leadership for guidance about how to align its workflow with Congressional priorities. The agency’s work for Congress during the 2025 budget reconciliation process illustrates how CBO used such guidance when facing trade-offs in allocating resources between responsiveness and transparency.

When it was practicable to do so, CBO provided detailed cost estimates for the committees’ reconciliation recommendations. But when time was limited when the combined Senate legislation was heading to a floor vote, the cost estimates consisted only of tables that listed projected effects on direct spending, revenues, and the deficit. In those cases, CBO prioritized providing estimates of the legislation’s budgetary effects, with little accompanying explanation, so that the Budget Committees could meet their responsibilities and that Congress was informed of a bill’s effects before a floor vote occurred. CBO’s analysts and staff were always available and responded to various questions from Members and Congressional staff about estimates.

CBO has provided additional details about the 2025 reconciliation legislation since it was enacted. This fall, the agency released information about the basis of its estimates for provisions related to Medicaid and spectrum auctions in the 2025 reconciliation act—information that it could not publish earlier this year because of time constraints.26 And as previously mentioned, CBO provided a detailed discussion of the budgetary and economic effects of the legislation in the most recent edition of The Budget and Economic Outlook.

Even as CBO provided technical assistance, cost estimates, and other analyses throughout the budget reconciliation process, the agency continued work toward other objectives. From January 2025 to October 2025, CBO released more than 600 cost estimates and 90 publications related to work outside of the reconciliation process as Congress continued its work on other legislative efforts. Most of those publications explained the methods used in the analysis or relied on methods that had been previously explained. Furthermore, CBO provided detailed information to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees as they were developing the fiscal year 2026 appropriations bills. The agency supplied information in support of 20 full committee markups, reviewed hundreds of amendments for three bills considered by the House Rules Committee, and published summary cost estimates for six appropriation bills considered on the floor of the House or Senate.

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1. 1. Testimony of Phillip Swagel, Director, Congressional Budget Office, before the House Committee on the Budget, How CBO Supported Congress During the 2025 Budget Reconciliation Process (November 18, 2025), www.cbo.gov/publication/61763.

2. 2. Congressional Budget Office, “CBO’s Panel of Economic Advisers: Agenda for November 1, 2024” (November 1, 2024), https://tinyurl.com/3jeeau3h.

3. 3. Sec. 201(f) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (codified at 2 U.S.C. § 601(f) (2018 & Supp.)).

4. 4. Administered by the Federal Communications Commission, spectrum auctions are auctions of licenses and permits for the commercial use of the electromagnetic spectrum.

5. 5. Congressional Budget Office, “Estimated Budgetary Effects of a Bill to Provide for Reconciliation Pursuant to Title II of H. Con. Res. 14, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, as Ordered Reported by the House Committee on the Budget on May 18, 2025” (May 20, 2025), www.cbo.gov/publication/61420.

6. 6. Congressional Budget Office, “Estimated Budgetary Effects of H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, as Passed by the House of Representatives on May 22, 2025 (June 4, 2025), www.cbo.gov/publication/61461.

7. 7. Congressional Budget Office, “Estimated Budgetary Effects of an Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute to H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, Relative to the Budget Enforcement Baseline for Consideration in the Senate” (June 27, 2025), www.cbo.gov/publication/61533.

8. 8. Congressional Budget Office, “Estimated Budgetary Effects of an Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute to H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, Relative to CBO’s January 2025 Baseline” (June 29, 2025), www.cbo.gov/publication/61534.

9. 9. Congressional Budget Office, “Information Concerning the Budgetary Effects of H.R. 1, as Passed by the Senate on July 1, 2025” (July 1, 2025), www.cbo.gov/publication/61537.

10. 10. Congressional Budget Office, dynamic estimate for H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, as passed by the House of Representatives on May 22, 2025 (June 2025), www.cbo.gov/publication/61486.

11. 11. Congressional Budget Office, “An Update on CBO’s Support of the Congress Throughout the Reconciliation Process,” CBO Blog (June 17, 2025), www.cbo.gov/publication/61474.

12. 12. Congressional Budget Office, The Budget and Economic Outlook: 2026 to 2026 (February 2026), www.cbo.gov/publication/61882.

13. 13. Congressional Budget Office, “Dynamic Analysis of Changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in H.R. 1” (June 2025), www.cbo.gov/publication/61505, and “CBO’s Panel of Economic Advisers: Agenda for June 6, 2025” (June 6, 2025), https://tinyurl.com/2hcjvs57.

14. 14. Congressional Budget Office and the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation, letter to the Honorable August Pfluger and the Honorable Bruce Westerman about how CBO and Joint Committee staff prepare dynamic analyses (April 29, 2025), www.cbo.gov/ publication/61346.

15. 15. On December 5, 2024, the Brookings Institution hosted a seminar on modeling changes to tax provisions, which included a discussion about how CBO and JCT differ in their approaches to modeling expiring tax provisions.

16. 16. Congressional Budget Office, letter to the Honorable Jodey Arrington, the Honorable Brett Guthrie, and the Honorable Jason Smith about clarifications of marketplace coverage and eligibility under Public Law 119-21 (H.R. 1) and the 2025 Marketplace Integrity and Affordability Rule (August 25, 2025), www.cbo.gov/publication/61506.

17. 17. Congressional Budget Office, letter to the Honorable Sheldon Whitehouse, the Honorable Jeff Merkley, the Honorable Ron Wyden, and the Honorable Brendan F. Boyle about CBO’s estimates of the statutory pay-as-you-go effects of Public Law 119-21 (August 15, 2025), www.cbo.gov/publication/61659.

18. 18. Congressional Budget Office, letter to the Honorable Jeff Merkley about the effects on deficits and the debt of Public Law 119-21 and of making certain tax policies in the act permanent (August 4, 2025), www.cbo.gov/publication/61466.

19. 19. Congressional Budget Office, letter to the Honorable Brendan F. Boyle and the Honorable Hakeem Jeffries providing a preliminary analysis of the distributional effects of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (May 20, 2025), www.cbo.gov/publication/61422, letter to the Honorable Brendan F. Boyle and the Honorable Hakeem Jeffries about the distributional effects of H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (June 12, 2025), www.cbo.gov/publication/61387, letter to the Honorable Brendan F. Boyle, the Honorable Hakeem Jeffries, the Honorable Jeff Merkley, and the Honorable Chuck Schumer about the distributional effects of Public Law 119-21 (August 11, 2025), www.cbo.gov/publication/61367, “How H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, Would Affect the Distribution of Resources Available to Households” (interactive tool, June 12, 2025), www.cbo.gov/publication/61469, and “How the 2025 Reconciliation Act (Public Law 119-21) Will Affect the Distribution of Resources Available to Households” (interactive tool, August 11, 2025), www.cbo.gov/interactive/2025-reconciliation-act.

20. 20. Congressional Budget Office, letter to the Honorable Jeff Merkley about the debt-service effects derived from H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (June 5, 2025), www.cbo.gov/publication/61459, and letter to the Honorable Jeff Merkley about the effects on deficits and the debt of enacting H.R. 1 and of making certain tax policies in H.R. 1 permanent (June 12, 2025), www.cbo.gov/publication/61471.

21. 21. Congressional Budget Office, letter to the Honorable Ron Wyden, the Honorable Frank Pallone, Jr., and the Honorable Richard E. Neal about the estimated effects on the number of uninsured people in 2034 resulting from policies incorporated within CBO’s baseline projections and H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (June 4, 2025), www.cbo.gov/publication/61463.

22. 22. Congressional Budget Office, letter to the Honorable Amy Klobuchar and the Honorable Angie Craig about the potential effects on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program of reconciliation recommendations pursuant to H. Con. Res. 14, as ordered reported by the House Committee on Agriculture on May 12, 2025 (May 22, 2025), www.cbo.gov/publication/61426.

23. 23. Congressional Budget Office, letter to the Honorable Jodey Arrington and the Honorable Brett Guthrie providing information concerning Medicaid-related provisions in title IV of H.R. 1 (June 24, 2025), www.cbo.gov/publication/61510.

24. 24. Congressional Budget Office, letter to the Honorable Brendan F. Boyle about potential statutory pay-as-you-go effects of a bill to provide reconciliation pursuant to H. Con. Res. 14, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (May 20, 2025), www.cbo.gov/publication/61423.

25. 25. Congressional Budget Office, letter to the Honorable Lindsey Graham providing information about the budgetary effects of an Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute to H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, as posted on the website of the Senate Committee on the Budget on June 27, 2025 (June 28, 2025), www.cbo.gov/publication/61536, and letter to the Honorable Jeff Merkley about the estimated budgetary effects of title VII, Finance, within an Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute to H.R. 1 (June 29, 2025), www.cbo.gov/publication/61535.

26. 26. Congressional Budget Office, supplemental cost estimate for Public Law 119-21, to provide for reconciliation pursuant to title II of H. Con. Res. 14, title VII, Finance, subtitle B, Health, chapter 1, Medicaid, as enacted on July 4, 2025 (October 28, 2025), www.cbo.gov/publication/61837, and supplemental cost estimate for Public Law 119-21, to provide for reconciliation pursuant to title II of H. Con. Res. 14, title IV, Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, section 40002, Spectrum Auctions, as enacted on July 4, 2025 (October 28, 2025), www.cbo.gov/publication/61838.

About This Document

This document presents the Congressional Budget Office’s request for appropriations for fiscal year 2027.

Leigh Angres, Tracy L. Henry, and Joyce Shin prepared the document with assistance from Amy Ciardiello, Tabitha Craig, Dana Ealey, Caitlin Emma, Emma Kugelmass, Kevin Laden, and Damon Whitley and with guidance from Mark Smith.

Mark Hadley reviewed the document. John Skeen edited it, R. L. Rebach and Jorge Salazar created the graphics, and Jorge Salazar prepared the text for publication. The document is available at www.cbo.gov/publication/61949.

CBO seeks feedback to make its work as useful as possible. Please send comments to communications@cbo.gov.

Phillip L. Swagel

Director

February 2026