Office of Management and Budget
Summary
The White House's own budget office, funded at $129 million and about 554 staff in FY2026, writes the President's Budget every year and must approve -- dollar by dollar -- how every other federal agency's appropriation is released before it can be spent, the Good Citizen series' entry on .
What is this organization?
What does it do?
does two things no other office can. Under 31 U.S.C. Section 1105⧉, it prepares and transmits the President's Budget to Congress each year -- by law, no later than the first Monday in February. Under the Antideficiency Act⧉, it must also apportion -- subdivide by time or program -- every dollar of every agency's appropriation before that agency may spend it, within 20 days of the fiscal year's start or 30 days after enactment. Its regulatory arm, OIRA⧉, reviews agencies' economically 'significant' rules under Executive Order 12866 before they may publish.
What does it cost to run — money and people?
Congress enacted $129,000,000⧉ for 's FY2026 Salaries and Expenses account -- flat with FY2024's and FY2025's actual $129 million⧉ levels, and $17.1 million (11.7%) below the $146,147,000 OMB itself requested⧉. 's own FY2027 budget submission estimates 554 direct civilian FTEs for FY2026⧉, up from 500 in FY2025. Measured against the Census Bureau's 341.8 million U.S. residents⧉ as of July 2025, that is about $0.38 per person.
View data as table
| FY2024 actual | 129 | flat baseline |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 actual | 129 | flat again |
| FY2026 requested | 146.1 | 's own ask: more staff, IT/cyber |
| FY2026 enacted | 129 | flat a third year |
Why is it good for society?
Apportionment turns a congressional appropriation into money an agency may actually spend -- and the reason a transparency check exists is that, in 2019, itself misused that power, withholding $214 million⧉ in Ukraine security assistance through apportionment footnotes. found in January 2020 that OMB violated the Impoundment Control Act⧉, because "faithful execution of the law does not permit" a President "to substitute his own policy priorities for those" Congress enacted into law. Congress answered by requiring OMB to post every apportionment document publicly⧉ within two business days.
- 's FY2026 enacted appropriation ($129M) is flat with FY2024 and FY2025's actual levels -- and $17.1M (11.7%) below what itself requested ($146.147M).
- 's own apportionment power was misused in 2019 -- found a $214M Impoundment Control Act violation -- which is why Congress now requires every apportionment document posted publicly within two business days.
Your handles.* To see a specific regulation currently under White House review, browse OIRA's EO 12866 dashboard⧉ on Reginfo.gov. To see how a specific appropriation was apportioned to any federal agency, check OMB's public apportionment site. To read the instructions sends every agency each year, see Circular A-11 on whitehouse.gov.
Sources(10) ▾
- U.S. House of Representatives, Office of the Law Revision Counsel, 31 U.S.C. Chapter 11 -- The Budget and Fiscal, Budget, and Program Information (Section 1105, Budget Contents and Submission to Congress) (2026-01-01) — The current U.S. Code text of 31 U.S.C. Sec. 1105, the statutory requirement (originating in the Budget and Accounting Act, 1921) that the President submit an annual budget to Congress -- prepares this submission on the President's behalf. Direct fetch of the official House Code compilation succeeded. uscode.house.gov · original document
- U.S. Government Publishing Office, Title 5, Appendix -- Reorganization Plan No. 2 of 1970 (compiled text, 84 Stat. 2085) (2010-01-01) — GPO's compiled U.S. Code Appendix text of Reorganization Plan No. 2 of 1970 -- Sec. 102 designates the Bureau of the Budget as the Office of Management and Budget, and the plan's effective-date note ('Eff. July 1, 1970, 35 F.R. 7959, 84 Stat. 2085') is this entry's source for 's creation date under its current name. Direct govinfo.gov fetch succeeded. govinfo.gov · original document
- Congressional Research Service, Office of Management and Budget (OMB): An Overview (RS21665) (2023-06-22) — Congress's own nonpartisan research service's overview of -- source for the 1921 Bureau of the Budget creation (Budget and Accounting Act, 1921) and the 1939 move into the newly created Executive Office of the President (Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 1939), plus its description of OIRA's review of 'significant' rules under E.O. 12866. Not primary law, but a legislative-branch analytic product whose statutory citations are independently verifiable. congress.gov · original document
- Office of Management and Budget, Budget of the U.S. Government, Fiscal Year 2026 -- Appendix, Executive Office of the President (Office of Management and Budget account) (2025-05-30) — 's own FY2026 Budget Appendix chapter for the Executive Office of the President -- the 'Office of Management and Budget / Salaries and Expenses' account gives the $146,147,000 FY2026 request (bill language), the FY2024 actual budget authority and employment (Program and Financing / Employment Summary tables). Direct govinfo.gov fetch succeeded. govinfo.gov · original document
- Office of Management and Budget, Budget of the U.S. Government, Fiscal Year 2027 -- Appendix, Executive Office of the President (Office of Management and Budget account) (2026-04-03) — 's own FY2027 Budget Appendix chapter for the Executive Office of the President, submitted April 2026 -- the most current official source for 's FY2025 actual and FY2026 estimated budget authority and employment, since it postdates enactment of the FY2026 appropriation. Direct govinfo.gov fetch succeeded. govinfo.gov · original document
- 119th Congress / U.S. Government Publishing Office, H.R. 7148 (Enrolled) -- Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026, enacted as Public Law 119-75 (Division C, Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act, 2026) (2026-02-03) — The enrolled bill text of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026, signed into law as Public Law 119-75 on February 3, 2026 -- the 'OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET / SALARIES AND EXPENSES' paragraph gives the enacted $129,000,000 FY2026 appropriation this entry's budget KPI is built on. Direct govinfo.gov fetch succeeded. govinfo.gov · original document
- Congressional Research Service, Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Reporting on Apportionments (IN12538) (2025-04-10) — Congress's own nonpartisan research service's explainer on 's apportionment function under the Antideficiency Act (31 U.S.C. Sec.Sec. 1511-1519) -- source for the statutory apportionment deadline and the FY2022 Consolidated Appropriations Act requirement that post every apportionment document publicly within two business days. congress.gov · original document
- U.S. Government Accountability Office, Office of Management and Budget -- Withholding of Ukraine Security Assistance (B-331564) (2020-01-16) — 's own legal decision finding that violated the Impoundment Control Act when it used apportionment footnotes to withhold approximately $214 million in Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative funds from the Department of Defense in 2019 -- this entry's mechanism-and-counterfactual source for why apportionment oversight matters. Direct gao.gov fetch succeeded. gao.gov · original document
- Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OMB), EO 12866 Regulatory Review -- Reginfo.gov (2026-07-16) — OIRA's own live public dashboard of regulations currently and historically under E.O. 12866 review -- cited in this entry's 'Your handles' block as a way for a reader to look up a specific pending rule. Direct fetch succeeded. reginfo.gov · original document
- U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Population Growth Slows Due to Historic Decline in Net International Migration (Vintage 2025 national population estimate) (2026-01-27) — The Census Bureau's own Vintage 2025 national population estimate release, giving the U.S. resident population as of July 1, 2025 -- the per-resident denominator for this entry's cost-per-person KPI, per better_metrics.md's sourced-denominator discipline. Reused sealed capture already cited by good-citizen-cbo and good-citizen-gao. census.gov · original document
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The Office of Management and Budget traces to the Budget and Accounting Act, 1921⧉ (P.L. 67-13), which created the Bureau of the Budget inside the Treasury Department; Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 1939⧉ moved it into the newly created Executive Office of the President. Reorganization Plan No. 2 of 1970⧉ renamed it the Office of Management and Budget, effective July 1, 1970. now sits inside the White House compound, turning a President's priorities into the government's actual spending plan.