2. Executive Office of the President · Minor
Have the OMB Director set a fiscal goal early in budget development
Printed page 46 2. Executive Office of the President
“The OMB Director should present a fiscal goal to the President early in the budget development process to address the federal government's fiscal irresponsibility.”
What has happened
- Not started
No published record of the Director presenting a fiscal goal to the President at the start of budget formulation. The Budgets themselves state toplines after the fact — the FY2027 request cuts non-defense discretionary spending by $73 billion, or 10 per cent — but a topline published in April is the output of the process, not the goal set at its start, and neither the FY2026 skinny budget nor the FY2027 Budget describes such a step. OMB Circular A-11, which governs budget formulation, sets out the agency submission calendar and contains no provision for a fiscal goal presented to the President.
No action found yet. This entry is the starting point, not a finding.
Research log
What was searched, and what didn’t count as evidence
Research notes
Negative search. Read: OMB Circular A-11 (2025 edition, whitehouse.gov/omb/information-resources/guidance/circulars/) — no “fiscal goal” provision; the FY2027 Topline Fact Sheet and the Director’s April 2026 transmittal letter in the FY2027 Budget volume; the OMB memoranda index. This is an internal process step and may simply never be published.
- Action
- other
- Object
- Presidential budget fiscal goal
- ID
- 37