The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB) is a non-profit

public policy Public policy is an institutionalized proposal or a Group decision-making, decided set of elements like laws, regulations, guidelines, and actions to Problem solving, solve or address relevant and problematic social issues, guided by a conceptio ...

organization based in Washington, D.C. that addresses federal budget and fiscal issues. It was founded in 1981 by former

United States Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

Robert Giaimo (D-CT) and

United States Senator The United States Senate consists of 100 members, two from each of the 50 U.S. state, states. This list includes all senators serving in the 119th United States Congress. Party affiliation Independent Senators Angus King of Maine and Berni ...

Henry Bellmon (R-OK), and its board of directors includes past heads of the

House A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...

and Senate Budget Committees, the

Congressional Budget Office The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency within the United States Congress, legislative branch of the United States government that provides budget and economic information to Congress. I ...

, the

Office of Management and Budget The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is the largest office within the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP). The office's most prominent function is to produce the president's budget, while it also examines agency pro ...

, and the

Government Accountability Office The United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) is an independent, nonpartisan government agency within the legislative branch that provides auditing, evaluative, and investigative services for the United States Congress. It is the s ...

History

Founding and Cost Containment Coalition

The organization was founded by former representative and chair of the House Budget Committee Robert Giaimo (D-CT) and former senator and ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee member Henry Bellmon (R-OK) on June 10, 1981. After leaving

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

, the two decided the country needed an organization outside government committed to advocating for a sound budget process, and convened a group including other former Budget Committee chairmen, former directors of the

, leading economists, and businessmen. In the 1990s the CRFB formed the Cost Containment Coalition, led by then-president Carol Cox Wait, to find a solution to what some had termed a health care crisis. Paul Blumenthal and Ryan Grim in ''

HuffPost ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers p ...

'' criticized the CRFB for receiving funding from Philip Morris, a multi-national tobacco company, and the Tobacco Institute. Cox Wait was also criticized for her personal connections to Philip Morris, as she was a "corporate affairs consultant" for the company and was married to Philip Morris vice president Bob Wait. An "inter-office correspondence" memo says that the Coalition was thought up by employees at Philip Morris but was going to be formed "under the auspices of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget," and that its purpose was to take "the focus away from excise taxes." The Coalition lobbied against an excise tax on tobacco under consideration by the Clinton administration.

2000s and 2010s

From 2004 through 2013, the CRFB was based at the New America Foundation, a non-profit

think tank A think tank, or public policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governme ...

based in Washington D.C. Maya MacGuineas, president of CRFB, was the program director of New America's Fiscal Policy Program, and most of CRFB's staff were also co-appointed to positions at New America. As of January 2014 the organization no longer has ties with the New America Foundation. In 2008, the organization received a grant from the Pew Charitable Trusts to raise the public understanding of important fiscal matters facing the country during the 2008 presidential election. This project, called US Budget Watch, was also tasked with tracking the candidates’ tax and spending promises both during and after the election. The project has continued to release reports in subsequent presidential elections. In late 2008, CRFB received support from The Peter G. Peterson Foundation and the Pew Charitable Trusts to create a new commission that would explore options for reforming the federal budget process, the Peterson-Pew Commission on Budget Reform. The Commission released its initial report, "Red Ink Rising," in December 2009 and its second report, "Getting Back in the Black," in November 2010. In early 2009, CRFB unveiled Stimulus.org, a

database In computing, a database is an organized collection of data or a type of data store based on the use of a database management system (DBMS), the software that interacts with end users, applications, and the database itself to capture and a ...

which tracked the spending and deficit impact of all major government actions taken due to the

2008 financial crisis The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...

. On the April 5, 2009 edition of CBS’

Face the Nation ''Face the Nation'' is a weekly news and Sunday morning talk show, morning public affairs program airing Sundays on the CBS radio and Television broadcasting, television network. Created by Frank Stanton (executive), Frank Stanton in 1954, ''Fa ...

, host Bob Schieffer used figures from CRFB's "Stimulus Watch" chart while questioning Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner about the amount of

Troubled Asset Relief Program The Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) is a program of the United States government to purchase toxic assets and equity from financial institutions to strengthen its financial sector that was passed by Congress and signed into law by U.S. Presi ...

(TARP) funds that remained unspent. In 2009, CRFB's "Fiscal Roadmap Project" was launched. The Project outlined how the U.S. could move from stabilizing the economy during the 2008 financial crisis to addressing its long-term fiscal problems. The ultimate goal of the Project was to show how policymakers could eventually put the country in what CRFB regarded as a sounder fiscal position. The project released at least two long analyses, one on deficits and another on the activities of the

Federal Reserve The Federal Reserve System (often shortened to the Federal Reserve, or simply the Fed) is the central banking system of the United States. It was created on December 23, 1913, with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act, after a series of ...

during the 2008 financial crisis. The Fiscal Roadmap Project was originally directed by Anne Vorce, former U.S. economic expert for the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

. In early 2011, former fiscal commission co-chairs Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson launched the Moment of Truth Project, with the intent "to foster honest discussion about the nation's fiscal challenges" through "public education, Congressional outreach, and technical and policy analysis." Warner Stockman Engler Greenspan Harman

CRFB launched the Go Big Initiative after The Budget Control Act of 2011 tasked a bipartisan 12-member Joint Congressional Committee on Deficit Reduction with finding an additional $1.5 trillion in deficit reduction. For this reason, CRFB launched "Go Big" in an effort to urge the Joint Congressional Committee to exceed its savings mandate of $1.5 trillion and enact a

bipartisan Bipartisanship, sometimes referred to as nonpartisanship, is a political situation, usually in the context of a two-party system (especially those of the United States and some other western countries), in which opposing Political party, politica ...

, comprehensive fiscal reform plan. In 2014, The Better Budget Process Initiative was created to fix the "broken" budget process by "increasing focus the on long-term fiscal outlook, improving the process for dealing with the debt limit, strengthening

statutory A statute is a law or formal written enactment of a legislature. Statutes typically declare, command or prohibit something. Statutes are distinguished from court law and unwritten law (also known as common law) in that they are the expressed wil ...

budget enforcement, revising the content and structure of the budget resolution, moving to biennial budgeting, and addressing treatment of tax expenditures in the budget process." Publications produced by the initiative include principles for a budget resolution and budget baseline reforms. The Campaign to Fix the Debt was launched in July 2012, and has advocated for deficit reduction (including cuts to

Social Security Welfare spending is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifically to social insurance ...

and Medicare) and

tax reform Tax reform is the process of changing the way taxes are collected or managed by the government and is usually undertaken to improve tax administration or to provide economic or social benefits. Tax reform can include reducing the level of taxati ...

to avoid a fiscal cliff. In 2012, former Democrat Erskine Bowles and former Republican

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

Alan Simpson served as co-chairs, while former Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell and former senator Judd Gregg served as steering committee co-chairs. The McCrery-Pomeroy SSDI Solutions Initiative was launched in 2014 to identify "practical policy changes to improve the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program and other policies for people with disabilities." It was co-chaired by former Congressmen Earl Pomeroy (D-ND) and Jim McCrery (R-LA), both former chairmen of the House Ways & Means Social Security Subcommittee. The initiative published a book, ''SSDI Solutions: Ideas to Strengthen the Social Security Disability Insurance Program'', in 2016 based on papers commissioned from various policy experts. It published several more commissioned papers in 2018 and 2019.

2020s

In 2020, FixUS was launched as an initiative of the Fix the Debt Campaign. According to its website: "FixUS is a group of Americans united in shared concern over the divided state of our country. We believe that healing these divisions is our highest national priority, and essential to preparing our nation to face the defining challenges of the 21st century." FixUS conducted a national Roadshow and Listening Tour to discuss the national debt as well as partisan divisions, and produced a report on its findings. U.S. representative

Jared Golden Jared Forrest Golden (born July 25, 1982) is an American politician and United States Marine Corps, Marine Corps veteran serving as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for Maine's 2nd congressional district since 2018 ...

(D-ME 2nd) worked with the CRFB and the Tax Foundation on a compromise plan with balanced spending cuts and tax increases as the nation's debt neared its statutory ceiling in mid-2023. Golden's eight-page proposal did not attract any support from other

members publicly.

Leadership

The committee's first president was Carol Cox Wait, who served until 2003 and remains on CRFB's board of directors. Cox Wait was succeeded by Maya MacGuineas, who also served as director of the Fiscal Policy Program at the New America Foundation. In July 2015, CRFB announced

Mitch Daniels Mitchell Elias Daniels Jr. (born April 7, 1949) is an American Academic administration, academic administrator, businessman, author, and retired politician who served as the 49th governor of Indiana from 2005 to 2013. A Republican Party (United ...

, Leon Panetta and Timothy Penny as the new co-chairs of its board. CRFB's board of directors was previously co-chaired by William Frenzel (R-MN), Timothy Penny (I-MN), and Charles Stenholm (D-TX), all former Congressional representatives. The organization's activities are overseen by a 40-member board of directors composed of experts and prominent figures in federal budget, tax and fiscal policy. A large part of the board is composed of former directors of major budget-related government offices including the

(CBO), the

(OMB), the House and Senate Budget Committees, and the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. The group also includes numerous former Congressmen, former U.S. Comptrollers General, university and

experts on

fiscal policy In economics and political science, fiscal policy is the use of government revenue collection ( taxes or tax cuts) and expenditure to influence a country's economy. The use of government revenue expenditures to influence macroeconomic variab ...

, and prominent members of the business and legal community.

Research and publications

The Committee focuses on many issues including deficit reduction, entitlement reform, fundamental

, improving the budget process, and other topical issues as they arise. In the past, CRFB has produced analyses in areas including: * A detailed summary and cost estimate of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, and an infographic visualizing how the money will be spent * The stages in the annual federal budget cycle (e.g., the president's budget submission, Congressional Budget Resolution, explainers on appropriations, government shutdowns, etc.) * Developments and changes in Congressional budget procedures and process, such as an appropriations tracker * The status and future prospects of long-term government "entitlement" programs (e.g., Medicare,

Medicaid Medicaid is a government program in the United States that provides health insurance for adults and children with limited income and resources. The program is partially funded and primarily managed by U.S. state, state governments, which also h ...

, and

) * The findings of regular financial and budgetary reports put out by government offices (e.g., the

's "Monthly Budget Report," the "Budget and Economic Outlook," and the Long-Term budget Outlook.") * Tax and spending bills proposed by

or the president * The costs of the candidates’ campaign promises during the 2008, 2012, 2016, and 2020 presidential elections, including an analysis of 2020 candidate health care plans * The fiscal implications of the government's actions during the

* Major

initiatives (e.g., health care reform), including an illustrative stimulus plan, and a list of budget offsets that can produce savings. The organization also issues regular press releases on day-to-day news developments related to federal budget,

tax A tax is a mandatory financial charge or levy imposed on an individual or legal entity by a governmental organization to support government spending and public expenditures collectively or to regulate and reduce negative externalities. Tax co ...

, and

Criticism

Michael Hiltzik, writing in the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'', called the CRFB "a billionaire's front group that likes to portray itself as a neutral budget watchdog" due to the group's ties to billionaire Peter G. Peterson and The Peter G. Peterson Foundation. Paul Blumenthal and Christina Wilkie, writing in ''

'', made a similar criticism of the group's connection to Peterson. Economist Paul Krugman, writing in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', criticized "deficit scolds" like the CFRB for having bad policy suggestions and being hypocritical, as well as having hidden intentions to "shred the

social safety net A social safety net (SSN) consists of non-contributory assistance existing to improve lives of vulnerable families and individuals experiencing poverty and destitution. Examples of SSNs are previously-contributory social pensions, in-kind and foo ...

". Krugman argued that "the deficit scolds, while posing as the nation's noble fiscal defenders, have in practice shown themselves both hypocritical and incoherent. They don't deserve to have a central role in policy discussion; they really don't even deserve a seat at the table."

Prominent past and current board members

*Barry Anderson, former acting director of the

(CBO) * Roy Ash, former

(OMB) director for Nixon and Ford administrations * Nancy Kassebaum Baker, former U.S. senator from

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

* Henry Bellmon, former

governor of Oklahoma The governor of Oklahoma is the head of government of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Under the Oklahoma Constitution, the governor serves as the head of the Oklahoma Executive (government), executive branch, of the government of Oklahoma. The gover ...

and U.S. senator from

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

and co-founder of CRFB * Erskine Bowles, former co-chairmen of the

National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform The National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform (often called Simpson–Bowles or Bowles–Simpson from the names of co-chairs Alan K. Simpson, Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles; or NCFRR) was a bipartisan Presidential Commission (Unite ...

* Charles Bowsher, former Comptroller General of

(GAO) under the

Reagan administration Ronald Reagan's tenure as the 40th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1981, and ended on January 20, 1989. Reagan, a Republican from California, took office following his landslide victory over ...

* Kent Conrad, former chairman of the Senate Budget Committee * Dan Crippen, former CBO director from 1999 to 2003 *

, former OMB director and Governor of Indiana * Dick Darman, former OMB director under George H.W. Bush administration * Vic Fazio, former U.S. representative from California * William Frenzel, former U.S. representative from

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

* Bill Gradison Jr., former U.S. representative from

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

* William H. Gray III, former U.S. representative from

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

* Alan Greenspan, former cha irman of the Federal Reserve * Jane Harman, former U.S. representative from California * William Hoagland, former staff director of the Senate Budget Committee * Douglas Holtz-Eakin, former director of CBO, economic advisor to McCain 2008 presidential campaign * James R. Jones, former

Chief of staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supportin ...

Lyndon Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), also known as LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States, serving from 1963 to 1969. He became president after assassination of John F. Kennedy, the assassination of John F. Ken ...

* Lou Kerr, president and chair of the Kerr Foundation * Jim Kolbe, former U.S. representative from

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

* James Lynn, former director of OMB * Marjorie Margolies, former U.S. representative from Pennsylvania * Dave McCurdy, former U.S. representative from Oklahoma * James T. McIntyre, former director of the OMB * David Minge, former U.S. representative from Minnesota * Jim Nussle, former director of OMB under

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

* Paul O'Neill, former

Secretary of the Treasury The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal a ...

under George W. Bush * June E. O'Neill, former director of CBO * Marne Obernaurer Jr., chairman of the Beverage Distributors Company * Robert Packwood, former chairman of the Senate Finance Committee * Leon Panetta, former OMB director and director of the Central Intelligence Agency * Rudolph Penner, former CBO director * Timothy Penny, former U.S. representative from Minnesota * Peter G. Peterson, former U.S. Secretary of Commerce and founder of Peter G. Peterson Foundation * Robert Reischauer, former director of CBO and president of the Urban Institute * John J. Rhodes, former U.S. representative from Arizona * Alice Rivlin, founding director of CBO, former member of Federal Reserve Board of Governors * Charles Robb, former U.S. senator from

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

* Martin Sabo, former chairman of the House Budget Committee * Charles Schultze, former chairman of the

Council of Economic Advisers The Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) is a United States agency within the Executive Office of the President established in 1946, which advises the president of the United States on economic policy. The CEA provides much of the empirical resea ...

* Alan K. Simpson, former Republican senator from

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

* John W. Snow, former secretary of the treasury under George W. Bush * John Spratt, former House Budget Committee chairman * Elmer Staats, former U.S. Comptroller General * Charles Stenholm, former U.S. representative from

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

* Eugene Steuerle, Senior Fellow at the Urban Institute * David Stockman, former director of OMB under Reagan, former U.S. representative from

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

* Robert Strauss, former chairman of

Democratic National Committee The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the principal executive leadership board of the United States's Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party. According to the party charter, it has "general responsibility for the affairs of the ...

* Lawrence Summers, former Treasury Secretary and director of the National Economic Council * John Tanner, former U.S. representative from

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

* Tom Tauke, former U.S. representative from

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

Laura Tyson Laura D'Andrea Tyson (born June 28, 1947) is an American economist and university administrator who is currently a Distinguished Professor of the Graduate School at the Haas School of Business of the University of California, Berkeley and a senio ...

, former chair of the Council of Economic Advisers * George Voinovich, former U.S. senator from Ohio * Paul Volcker, former chairman of the Federal Reserve * Carol Cox Wait, former president of CRFB * David Walker, former U.S. comptroller general and director of GAO * Joseph R. Wright, former director of OMB under Ronald Reagan * Janet Yellen, former chair of the Federal Reserve and United States Secretary of the Treasury

References

External links

Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget
{{DEFAULTSORT:Committee For A Responsible Federal Budget Nonpartisan organizations in the United States Non-profit organizations based in Washington, D.C. Organizations established in 1981 Political and economic think tanks in the United States