Passing the Buck: Congress, the Budget, and Deficits

by Jasmine Farrier

Overview

In the past thirty years, Congress has dramatically changed its response to unpopular deficit spending. While the landmark Congressional Budget Act of 1974 tried to increase congressional budgeting powers, new budget processes created in the 1980s and 1990s were all explicitly designed to weaken member, majority, and institutional budgeting prerogatives. These later reforms shared the premise that Congress cannot naturally forge balanced budgets without new automatic mechanisms and enhanced presidential oversight. So Democratic majorities in Congress gave new budgeting powers to Presidents Reagan and Bush, and then Republicans did the same for President Clinton.

Passing the Buck examines how Congress is increasing delegation of a wide variety of powers to the president in recent years. Jasmine Farrier assesses why institutional ambition in the early 1970s turned into institutional ambivalence about whether Congress is equipped to handle its constitutional duties.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780813189338
Publisher:	University Press of Kentucky
Publication date:	12/14/2021
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	296
File size:	2 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Jasmine Farrier is assistant professor of political science at the University of Louisville.

Table of Contents

	List of Tables	viii
	Acknowledgments	xi
	Introduction: Congressional Delegation of Power-Now More than Ever	1
Part I	Delegation of Power and Representation
1	Origins and Significance of Delegation of Power	11
2	Reforming the Reforms: A Brief History of Congressional Budgeting	26
Part II	Institutional Self-Diagnosis and Budget Reform, 1974-1996
3	1974 Budget Act: Congress Takes Control	51
4	Congress Attacks Deficits (and Itself) with Gramm-Rudman-Hollings	82
5	Old Problems and New Tools of Self-Restraint: The Budget Enforcement Act of 1990	129
6	Stop Us Before We Spend Again: The Line-Item Veto Act of 1996	165
	Conclusion: Understanding Delegation of Power	215
	Notes	225
	Bibliography	267
	Index	272

Editorial Reviews

A timely and compelling example of first-rate scholarship.

Lawrence C. Dodd

A comprehensive and important study of how Congress has reformed the budget process over the past several decades. Passing the Buck offers an informative perspective on the formal changes that have been made in the congressional budget process.

author of The Speaker and the Budget: Leadersh Daniel Palazzolo

An excellent account of the political tensions inherent in the modern congressional budget process. Farrier offers an important exceedingly intelligent study of a central concern for US governance and the balance of power. Highly recommended.

Choice

Well written and researched and raises interesting questions about delegation of authority in congressional research, as well as the history of congressional budgeting.

Perspectives on Politics

Well written, comprehensive, and clear in her approach. Policymakers, policy analysts, students, academics, and researchers interested in the federal budget process will benefit from reading this book.

Perspectives on Political Science

Choice

Richard Pious

Farrier sets out to understand why Congress 'tells the country that it is not well suited to making tough decisions on major policy questions.'... A highly informative read.

Political Science Quarterly

While congressional delegation and abdication, particularly in the area of war powers, has long been noted, Farrier's research provides evidence that the problem extends into other congressional prerogatives as well.

APSA Legislative Studies Section Newsletter

"While congressional delegation and abdication, particularly in the area of war powers, has long been noted, Farrier's research provides evidence that the problem extends into other congressional prerogatives as well." — APSA Legislative Studies Section Newsletter

"An excellent account of the political tensions inherent in the modern congressional budget process. Farrier offers an important exceedingly intelligent study of a central concern for US governance and the balance of power. Highly recommended." — Choice

"A comprehensive and important study of how Congress has reformed the budget process over the past several decades. Passing the Buck offers an informative perspective on the formal changes that have been made in the congressional budget process." — Daniel Palazzolo, author of The Speaker and the Budget: Leadership in the Post-

"A timely and compelling example of first-rate scholarship." — Lawrence C. Dodd

"Well written, comprehensive, and clear in her approach. Policymakers, policy analysts, students, academics, and researchers interested in the federal budget process will benefit from reading this book." — Perspectives on Political Science

"Well written and researched and raises interesting questions about delegation of authority in congressional research, as well as the history of congressional budgeting." — Perspectives on Politics

"Farrier sets out to understand why Congress 'tells the country that it is not well suited to making tough decisions on major policy questions.'... A highly informative read." — Political Science Quarterly

"Choice" — Richard Pious, author of Why Presidents Fail: White House Decision Making from Eisenhower to Bush II

"Farrier offers an important exceedingly intelligent study of a central concern for US governance and the balance of power." — Choice

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