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Federal Budget: Sources of Information

Past Budgets

If you are seeking previous budgets and budget related information, there are print and electronic sources that can be of assistance. Most of the sources in the Current Budget page are available for earlier years in either print or electronic form or both. In addition there are a few titles that have ceased publication or may not be included, but which may be of use for researchers needing historical information. Prior to 1791, material will be covered under the auspice of First Continental Congress (September 5 to October 26, 1774) and the Second Continental Congress (May 10, 1775, to March 2, 1789). Under the Articles of Confederation there was the specific position of Superintendent of Finance held by Robert Morris from 1781-1784. Following that period there is the Board of the Treasury. A good example of this is The committee, consisting of [blank] to whom was referred [sic] the report of the Board of Treasury respecting a requisition for the year 1788, report ... as well as one dated October 11, 1787 for year for 1787 that is not overly detailed and one dated June 22, 1786 for 1786

The government did try and note where federal money went by state through the Office of Economic Opportunity (seen in Federal Outlays System Files) and later the Consolidated Federal Funds Reports. 

The following materials link to fuller bibliographic information in the Library of Congress Online Catalog. Links to digital content are provided when available.

Defense Department

Spending information on the Defense Department can be found in general budget documents.  However, there are sources limited to Defense only.