Congressional Budget Office

Office of Management and Budget and Congressional Budget Office
The Office of Management and Budget and the Congressional Budget Office play a huge role in the U.S Government. The Office of Management and Budget is a part of the Executive branch whereas the Congressional Budget Office falls into the legislative branch. These two agencies have different responsibilities and powers, which are used to help our country run smoothly in the financial aspect.
The OMB was created in 1921 through the Budget and Accounting Act during President Warren Harding’s term. The sole purpose of this department was to create an annual budget. In 1970, during the Nixon administration, the Bureau of the Budget was reorganized and renamed the Office of Management
Congressional Budget Office mission is to help the congress formulate a budget plan, stay within that plan and consider policy issues related to the budget and the economy (cbo.gov). In addition, the CBO was created in 1974 by the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974. It was conceived shortly after the Watergate Scandal. The congress lost trust in Nixon and his cabinet members; therefore, this was a way for the federal government to no longer rely on the President (allgov.com). In addition, the CBO is considered the “junior member” of the four legislative support agencies (cbo.gov). They usually have 235 staff members and a director. The house speaker and the senate president choose the director. The CBO looks at all the bills from each department and comes up with a budget plan. In order to stay within the plan, the CBO takes estimates from every department and keeps track of the spending. CBO provides spending and savings estimates, called “scores”, for legislation under consideration by Congress (center-forward.org). These “scores” are reviewed during the bill process. The CBO does not write legislation or implement programs. The goal of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is to directly assist the president with the federal bill and to look over federal polices whereas, the goal of the CBO is help maintain and regulate our country’s budget. If there were not a CBO this would fall directly on the President of the United States. Overall, both of these departments handle financial elements of the government but fall into different branches leading to contrasting