Discretionary Spending

Discretionary Spending (German: discretionary spending ) is a category of government spending that can output because of a Output law a government. These expenditures are within the scope of fiscal policy option and thus are contrary to Mandatory Spending, ie mandatory expenditures, which are caused by separate laws. About a third of the federal budget of the United States falls under the realm of Discretionary Spending.

In the United States, Discretionary Spending apply to expenditure that are approved annually by Congress. Normally, these expenditures are authorized by a separate law, which is called the Appropriation Bill. The use made ​​of the appropriations is thereby defined in Appropriation Bill. Expenditure which has been established by existing laws as mandatory, are referred to as Mandatory Spending.

In 2012, the budget of the United States saw 1.3 trillion dollars before the Discretionary Spending, the Ministry of Defense of the United States 683 billion dollars claimed the largest share.