Douglas Elmendorf, director of the Congressional Budget Office, gave a presentation on the federal budget and possible policy changes. He outlined that under current law, spending on Social Security and Medicare will increase relative to GDP by 2023 while the deficit will be larger than its 40-year average. The House Republican plan would balance the budget through large cuts to non-defense discretionary spending. The Senate Democratic plan would decrease the deficit through tax increases and modest cuts to defense and non-mandatory spending. Putting the debt on a sustainable path will require taxes increases or benefit cuts that impact the middle class.