Three CBO options save $22B to $959B in outlays over ten years
Source. CBO, Options for Reducing the Deficit, December 2024
Method and data
Method. Bars are the ten-year (2025–2034) outlay changes in billions of dollars from CBO's December 12, 2024 options, plotted as savings (the CSV's −959, −339 and −21.5 with the sign reversed), so $21.5B appears as $22B in the title. The three options are a selection from CBO's list, not its range; they were scored against baselines that predate February 2026, their effective dates (October 2025 and January 2026) have passed, and they are not additive.
| Option | Window | Outlay change ($ billions) | Budget authority change ($ billions) | Baseline note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reduce the Department of Defense's annual budget | 2025-2034 | −959 | −1,118 | CBO Options for Reducing the Deficit, Dec 12, 2024; effective Oct 2025; predates the Feb 2026 baseline |
| Reduce selected nondefense discretionary spending | 2025-2034 | −339 | −406 | CBO Options for Reducing the Deficit, Dec 12, 2024; effective Oct 2025; predates the Feb 2026 baseline |
| Cap increases in basic pay for military service members | 2025-2034 | −21.5 | −21.7 | CBO Options for Reducing the Deficit, Dec 12, 2024; effective Jan 2026; mandatory outlays rise $5.6 billion |
Download federal-funding-calendar-14-cbo-discretionary-options.csv
