OMB has enormous discretion: To manipulate the size of the base. to manipulate the size of the sequester. to manipulate defense program spendout rates. and the ratio of budget authority to outlays. As a recent Government Affairs Committee report stated: "Congress has come to understand OMB as an agent with a point of view * * * once a ministerial chore performed by career bureaucrats. budgeting at OMB has become a policysetting and sometimes partisan political process." Politics knocks on every door at OMB. The agency has illegally impounded housing and refugee assistance funds. in pursuit of the Presidents agenda. OMB has improperly blocked the promulgation of asbestos regulations. In pursuit of the Presidents agenda.