App Profile: FedGovSpend Explorer

Curious how much federal spending goes toward the military, health care, or education? Want to understand what all those government programs you hear about do? If so, FedGovSpend™ Explorer is the app for you! Using data from the Office of Management and Budget and Congressional Budget Office, FedGovSpend™ Explorer shows, in easy-to-follow format, the budget outlays of the United States federal government. Accompanying, understandable, explanations are available at a touch of the screen. FedGovSpend™ Explorer is a product of the Carsey School of Public Policy at the University of New Hampshire. Visit the Carsey School’s website to learn more about federal spending and to find research and publications across a variety of policy areas.

When you first open the app you’ll see the big, broad, purposes to which federal spending goes. Let’s say you want to dig deeper into a specific area like health spending. Tap on “Health” and see health spending broken down by more narrow spending categories. Tap on one of those categories and get even more detail if you want. At each layer descriptions are available for what those spending dollars accomplish. You can see how much we spend on direct health care services, health research, occupational safety, and the rest. You can explore how much goes specifically to Medicaid, government retiree health coverage, the National Institutes of Health, and the other federal programs that comprise the government’s health spending. You can also view federal outlays by agency and by spending type. The answers are here in as much or as little detail as you want.

The app will be updated as new budget data become available.