In January, I ran a strategic choices exercise with participants from CSBA and three other prominent DC think thanks: AEI, CSIS, and CNAS. We asked each think tank team to develop its own QDR and FY15 budget in light of projected security challenges and likely budget constraints. Using our online strategic choices tool, the teams were able to choose from over 700 pre-costed options to add or cut from the budget over the next ten years.
We ran the exercise at two budget levels: the Budget Control Act (BCA) budget caps (as modified by the Ryan-Murray agreement), and roughly half-way between the Fiscal Year 2014 President’s Budget and the full BCA level cuts. On February 5, 2014 we presented the results at an event on the Hill. I provided an overview of the exercise methodology at the beginning and a summary comparing the similarities and differences among the teams at the end. Below is video of the event, including introductory remarks by Rep. Adam Smith, Rep. Randy Forbes, and Sen. John McCain: