Before the budget is passed both the House and Senate Budget Committees report the budget resolutions.  These resolutions estimate how much the federal government will spend in a fiscal year. The total spending is then divided into smaller categories, such as nation defense, energy, agriculture, and health care. Because the federal government usually runs deficits the committees also estimate how much the deficit will be. The video below is an example of the House Committee in action. Representative Gerald Connolly is proposing spending on insurance reform by stating that it will reduce the deficit by $100 billion in the next decade.  This is just a small sample of the kind of work the budget committees do before legislation is debated on the floor.