OPINION — With the recent slapdash presidential budget proposal for next fiscal year, Donald Trump and his administration have abandoned even pretending to pretend to care about the sorry state of the federal government’s finances.
The president and Congress have rarely adhered to the timeline provided by the Budget Act of 1974. However, it offers a useful reference point for what a responsible budget process would look like.
That process begins with the president’s proposed budget, which is supposed to be presented by the first Monday in February. Trump didn’t submit his until April 3, a full two months late. And it wasn’t a complete budget.
