Budget Deal Casts Doubt if Congress Will Ever Control Federal Spending

Copies of U.S. President Donald Trump's overview of budget priorities for FY2018, titled "America First: A Budget Blueprint to Make America Great Again." are put on display at the Government Publishing Office (GPO) and the Office of Management and Budget, in Washington on March 16, 2017. Mark Wilson/Getty Images

WASHINGTON—When Congress approved the Bipartisan Budget Act (BBA) of 2019, the measure authorized $322 billion in new spending and removed the ceiling on the $22 trillion national debt for two years.

The Aug. 1 vote was the fourth time in eight years that Congress busted through spending caps it had previously established in the 2011 Budget Control Act (BCA) with a promise to lower the federal deficit by $1.2 trillion by 2021.