About BlazingStar Analytics

Federal budget execution is opaque. Congress appropriates billions, OMB releases funds through apportionments, and agencies report spending via SF-133 reports—but tracking what actually happens between authorization and execution requires piecing together data from multiple sources.

That's the problem we're solving.

Who We Are

BlazingStar Analytics was founded by Joe Carlile, a budget analyst, former OMB official, former House Appropriations Committee staffer, and consultant with over two decades of experience tracking federal appropriations and execution. After years of manually tracking budget data across spreadsheets and PDFs, we're building tools to automate what should never have been manual in the first place.

What We're Building

We're developing a real-time budget execution tracking platform that connects three critical data sources:

  1. Appropriations - What Congress authorizes
  2. Apportionments - What OMB releases
  3. SF-133 Reports - What agencies actually spend

By linking these data sources through Treasury Account Fund Symbols (TAFS), we can answer questions that are nearly impossible to answer today:

  • When did OMB release funds for a specific program?
  • Is an agency spending allocated money, or is it sitting unobligated?
  • Are there early warning signs of impoundment or funding delays?
  • How does this year's execution compare to historical patterns?

Why This Blog

This blog serves two purposes:

Education: Federal budget execution is complex. We write clear, practical guides to help government affairs professionals, analysts, and advocates understand how the system actually works—not how it's supposed to work in theory.

Transparency: We'll share what we're learning as we build our platform. When we analyze 4.28 million SF-133 records or track apportionment patterns, we'll publish our findings here.

What We're Not

We're not a news site. We're not trying to break stories or predict politics. We focus on data, execution, and the mechanics of how federal spending flows from appropriation to recipient.

Get Early Access

We're launching our budget execution tracking platform in March 2026. If you want early access, sign up here.

Get in Touch

Questions, feedback, or just want to talk shop about federal budget execution? Reach us at blazingstar@getblazingstar.com.

This blog is updated weekly, every Monday at 9 AM ET.