The Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, also referred to as the “super committee,” held a public hearing titled, "Discretionary Outlays, Security and Non-Security,” looking at non-mandatory government spending. They heard from Congressional Budget Office (CBO) Director Douglas Elmendorf.
In responding to a question from Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI), Elmendorf said he would need a proposal from the committee the first week of November to give CBO staff enough time to analyze it. (Lawmakers rarely vote for spending changes without a CBO analysis.)
Today's hearing focused on discretionary spending, which makes up about one-third of the federal budget and is subject to annual Congressional funding bills. Discretionary spending includes defense, education, disaster relief and foreign aid and has been the target of recent budget cuts. Elmendorf said in his opening statement that more than half of discretionary spending is spent on defense.
Mandatory spending – entitlement programs including Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security – make up most of the remaining two-thirds of the budget.
This is the fourth hearing the bipartisan, bicameral committee has held since its formation as part of the deal to lift the debt ceiling. Members have been keeping its activities, meetings and conversations private and behind closed doors.
The committee announced their fifth hearing, which will take place on November 1st and will hear from Erskine Bowles and former Senator Alan Simpson (R-WY). They co-chaired a commission which released a plan to cut $4 trillion from the budget over the next 10 years.
The deficit reduction committee must present a plan to Congress by November 23rd to cut $1.2 trillion, and Congress must pass the plan by December 23rd to prevent automatic budget cuts split between defense and non-defense spending.