| January | March | April-July | August-October | November | December | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) | Presents revenue and expenditure estimates to the President | Develops general guidelines for federal agencies (with President) | Reviews agency requests and holds hearings with agency officials | Presents revised budget to the President | Writes budget message for the Congress (with President) | |
| President | Develops general guidelines for federal agencies (with OMB) | Writes budget message for the Congress (with OMB). | ||||
| Federal Agencies | Prepare and submit budget requests to OMB |
Each year, Congress adopts a new federal budget. The budget is the result of nearly two years of planning and action by Congress and the Executive Branch. Thus, the final stages of budget adoption overlap planning for the next round.
| January | February | May | June | July | September | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| President | Presents Congress a budget for the next fiscal year* | Signs or vetos budget resolutions passed by Congress | ||||
| Congressional Budget Office (CBO) | Reviews taxing and spending proposals and reports to budget committees | |||||
| Full House of Representatives and Senate | Vote on Budget Committee's 1st resolution | Vote on Budget Committee's 2nd resolution and other appropriation bills | ||||
| Committees | Budget Committee presents 1st concurrent resolution | All committees instructed to stay within the Budget Committee resolution | Appropriations Committee draws up and submits bills to Budget Committee for 2nd concurrent resolution |
If no appropriations bill for an agency has been passed by Congress and signed by the President by October 1st, Congress must pass and the President sign a continuing resolution to allow the agency to spend at last year's level until a new appropriations bill is passed.