# Budget Resolution Congress's own annual budget blueprint — a **concurrent resolution** (passed by both chambers but **not** signed by the president and carrying no force of law) that sets top-line targets for spending, revenue, and the deficit. Created by the Budget Act of 1974 and written by the House and Senate Budget Committees. Its real significance is procedural: **the budget resolution is the gateway to [[Reconciliation]].** ## What it does - Sets aggregate spending and revenue levels and allocates them among committees (the "302(a)/302(b)" allocations that bind the [[Appropriations Process]]). - Can include **reconciliation instructions** directing specific committees to produce legislation changing mandatory spending or taxes by a set amount — the key that unlocks the filibuster-proof [[Reconciliation]] track. - Is frequently skipped entirely; Congress can and does fund the government without one, but then it forfeits the reconciliation tool. ## The RWKB angle The budget resolution is where a majority decides whether to **govern by reconciliation** — bypassing the 60-vote Senate threshold to pass partisan tax-and-spending bills on a party-line vote. The reconciliation instructions in the 2025 budget resolution are what produced the [[Big Beautiful Bill]]. The resolution itself is dry; its instructions are where the leverage lives. See [[Federal Budget Process]]. ## Related - [[Reconciliation]] · [[Appropriations Process]] · [[Federal Budget Process]] - [[Big Beautiful Bill]] · [[Budget Hub]]