Congressional Budget Office

Options for Reducing the Deficit Congressional Budget Office

This volume presents 115 options that would decrease federal spending or increase federal revenues over the next decade (see Table 1-1 on page 6). The options included in this volume come from various sources. Some are based on proposed legislation or on the budget proposals of various Administrations; others come from Congressional offices or from entities in the federal government or in the private sector. The options cover many areas-ranging from defense to energy, Social Security, and provisions of the tax code. The budgetary effects identified for most of the options span the 10 years from 2017 to 2026 (the period covered by CBO's March 2016 baseline budget projections), although many of the options would have longer-term effects as well.