in spending by a wide margin will be absorbed by the Justice Department, where the president is proposing a 33.4 percent cut, from $26.9 billion to $17.9 billion. The next-largest cut goes to the Health and Human Services Department, which would see an 8.8 percent reduction in total discretionary authority.
View our chart below to see how the major agencies fared in Obama’s proposal. We looked at total discretionary authority for each agency.
|
Discretionary budget authority (billions of dollars)
|
|||
| Departments | 2011 Actual |
2013 Request |
Percent Change |
| Agriculture | 23.2 | 23 | -0.9% |
| Commerce | 5.6 | 8 | 41.9% |
| Defense (DoD — Excluding Overseas Contingency Operations) |
528.3 | 525.4 | -0.5% |
| Education | 68.3 | 69.8 | 2.2% |
| Energy (Excluding National Nuclear Security Administration) |
15.2 | 15.6 | 2.8% |
| Health and Human Services | 76.5 | 69.7 | -8.8% |
| Homeland Security | 41.9 | 39.5 | -5.8% |
| Housing and Urban Development | 37.1 | 35.3 | -4.8% |
| Interior | 11.7 | 11.4 | -2.7% |
| Justice | 26.9 | 17.9 | -33.4% |
| Labor | 12.5 | 12 | -4% |
| State and Other International Programs (Excluding Non-Security Funding) |
48.8 | 54.8 | 12.3% |
| Transportation | 13.7 | 13.8 | 0.6% |
| Treasury | 13.5 | 12.6 | -7% |
| Veterans Affairs | 56.4 | 61 | 8.1% |
| Major Agencies | |||
| Corps of Engineers — Civil Works | 4.9 | 4.7 | -4.3% |
| Environmental Protection Agency | 8.7 | 8.3 | -3.90% |
| National Aeronautics and Space Administration | 18.4 | 17.7 | -4% |
| National Science Foundation | 6.8 | 7.4 | 8.3% |
| Small Business Administration | 0.7 | 0.9 | 30.2% |
| Social Security Administration | 10.7 | 11.0 | 2.8% |
| Corporation for National and Community Service | 1.1 | 1.1 | -1% |
— by Andrew Lapin and Caitlin Fairchild, Government Executive, February 13, 2012 at http://www.govexec.com/management/2012/02/discretionary-budget-authority-billions-dollars/41189/.
