Are the Spending Caps Sustainable? Domestic and Defense Budgets This Year and Beyond

In recent years, President Obama and Congress passed laws that place annual caps on domestic and defense spending through 2021. Those caps likely will prevent appropriations from keeping pace with inflation and general growth of the U.S. population. Some question the wisdom of these policies as a means of reducing future budget deficits. Are the legislated spending caps sustainable while still allowing for adequate national defense during a time of growing international threats? Will they leave room for domestic investments that will pay off for future generations?

On January 16, just weeks before President Obama unveils his new Federal budget, the Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy and the Center for 21st Century Security and Intelligence at Brookings hosted a conversation on the spending caps and how they will affect defense and domestic programs. Panelists included Booz Allen Hamilton Senior Fellow and former Department of Defense Comptroller Robert Hale, Co-Director of the Center on Children and Families Ron Haskins, Co-Director of the Center for 21st Century Security and Intelligence Michael O’Hanlon, and Director of the Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform Alice Rivlin. David Wessel, director of the Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy, moderated.

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