National Debt Glossary: Understanding Government Discretionary Spending

Discretionary spending

The spending that’s negotiated between the President and Congress each year as part of the budget process (as opposed to ). Discretionary spending is typically set by the House and Senate Appropriations Committees and their various subcommittees through annual bills, with each bill corresponding to the jurisdiction of one of the subcommittees. Discretionary spending in fiscal 2010 was $1.35 trillion, or 39 percent of total federal spending. More than half of that amount — $689 billion — was for national defense.

National Debt Glossary

Looks up the key terms for understanding America's financial crisis

Frequently Asked Questions National Debt

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