> That's the portion of the budget that Congress actually has control over.
Congress has control over the whole budget. Unlike, e.g., the California Legislature and voter-mandated Constitutional spending in the state budget, there are no "mandates" in the "mandatory" part of the federal budget from some authority that transcends Congress, and it is well established that past acts of Congress do not bind future Congresses, or even future acts of the same Congress.
> Furthermore the mandatory portion (entitlements) are fundamentally different - you pay into the system through payroll taxes and pay out later during retirement.
That's not entirely true. While mandatory spending does include the payroll-tax-funded Social Security and Medicare programs, it also includes programs that are funded from general revenues like Medicaid, SNAP, EITC and the Child tax credit, etc.
Congress has control over the whole budget. Unlike, e.g., the California Legislature and voter-mandated Constitutional spending in the state budget, there are no "mandates" in the "mandatory" part of the federal budget from some authority that transcends Congress, and it is well established that past acts of Congress do not bind future Congresses, or even future acts of the same Congress.
> Furthermore the mandatory portion (entitlements) are fundamentally different - you pay into the system through payroll taxes and pay out later during retirement.
That's not entirely true. While mandatory spending does include the payroll-tax-funded Social Security and Medicare programs, it also includes programs that are funded from general revenues like Medicaid, SNAP, EITC and the Child tax credit, etc.