Skip to Content

The President’s Budget

Each year the annual budget cycle is kicked off when the President issues his budget proposal to Congress.  This usually happens the first Monday of February.  President Trump released his Fiscal Year 2019 Budget on February 12, 2018.   The budget proposal represents the Administration’s priorities and provides a framework for congressional debate and consideration, and the President is required by law to submit it to Congress.  However, the Constitution gives Congress, not the President, the authority to set the budget and appropriate funding, and so while Congress carefully reviews and considers the President’s budget request, Congress ultimately makes its own decision on appropriate funding levels.