The Budget divides more than $6.2 trillion in annual federal spending into three broad categories: (i) discretionary spending, (ii) direct (or mandatory) spending, and (iii) net interest payments on the public debt.
About 28% of federal spending is called “discretionary spending,” because the amount of spending flows from annual discretionary funding decisions by the House and Senate Appropriations Committees. The respective Appropriations Committees write 12 annual appropriations bills that allocate total discretionary spending among federal agencies and programs in account-level detail.
The 12 annual appropriations bills are negotiated under two broad subcategories—defense discretionary and nondefense discretionary spending (NDD).
The annual defense appropriations bill funds the operations of the Department of Defense, atomic energy programs at the Department of Energy and various defense-related activities at other agencies.
The 11 non-defense appropriations bills fund a multitude of discretionary government operations and programs including law enforcement, disease and epidemic control, veterans’ healthcare, homeland security, education, prisons, highways and bridges, food and drug inspection, disaster relief, airports, health research, housing assistance, international affairs, space exploration and other scientific research, and many other functions of government.
Discretionary Spending is funded through 12 annual appropriations bills: The House and Senate Appropriations Committees are organized into 12 subcommittees, with each subcommittee having responsibility for developing one regular annual appropriations bill.
The links below will take you to our associated site, Appropriations.com, which provides real-time updates and more than 20 years of history on each of the appropriations bills.
- Status of this year’s Appropriations Bills
- Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies, which oversees funding for the USDA (except the Forest Service) and other agencies;
- Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies, which oversees funding for the Department of Commerce, the Department of Justice, NASA, and other agencies;
- Defense, which oversees funding for the military, the intelligence community, and other national defense related agencies;
- Energy and Water Development, which oversees funding for the Department of Energy, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and other agencies;
- Financial Services and General Government, which oversees funding for the Department of the Treasury, the Executive Office of the President, and other government functions;
- Homeland Security, which oversees funding for the Department of Homeland Security;
- Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies, which oversees funding for the Department of the Interior, the EPA, the U.S. Forest Service, and a number of independent agencies;
- Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies, which oversees funding for the Department of Education, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Labor, and other agencies;
- Legislative Branch, which oversees funding for the House of Representatives and Senate, the U.S. Capitol, the Library of Congress, the GAO, and other legislative branch functions;
- Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies, which oversees funding for military construction (including military housing), the Department of Veterans Affairs, and related agencies;
- State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs, which oversees funding for the U.S. State Department, USAID, and related programs; and
- Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies, which oversees funding for the Department of Transportation, HUD, and related agencies.