Introduction
A great deal of preparation goes into the president's budget request submission, which is entitled, Budget of the U.S. Government. Before it is submitted, the president spends months working with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to formulate this budget request . The Office of Management and Budget is the largest office within the Executive Office of the President. The OMB's primary mission is to assist the president as he or she supervises the preparation of the federal budget. It is also responsible, later, for administering that budget to executive branch agencies.
U.S. Office of Management and Budget Seal
The Office of Management and Budget plays a key role in preparing the president's budget request to Congress.
OMB's Responsibilities
In order to aid the president in generating a budget submission, the OMB evaluates the effectiveness of various agency programs, policies, and procedures. The OMB also assesses competing funding demands among agencies in order to decide upon funding priorities. In preparation for submitting a final presidential budget request to Congress, the OMB also ensures that reports from individual agencies, along with any rules, testimony, and proposed legislation, are consistent with the president's budget request and administration policies.
OMB's Structure
The structure of the OMB facilitates the preparation of the budget and the later submission of that budget to Congress. OMB staff provide the Executive Office of the President with vital continuity, because they are among the several hundred career professionals that remain in their positions regardless of which party occupies the White House. The largest offices of the OMB are the four Resource Management Offices. Staff members from these offices are assigned to monitor federal agencies or topical areas, like issues associated with U.S. Navy warships. They perform in-depth program evaluations and review federal agency budget requests to decide which resource requests will be sent to Congress under the president's budget. In addition to these departments, staff members from the Office of General Counsel, the Office of Legislative Affairs, the Budget Review Division, and the Legislative Reference Division provide important support for the general operations of the OMB.