For students

1. Step 1

   Pick a shelf

   Books for money and states, Floor for Congress, Gavel for the Court, Desk for the presidency, Race for federal elections.

2. Step 2

   Learn the labels

   Open Definitions when a receipt type, CBO line, or agency name is unclear. Methodology explains the counting rules.

3. Step 3

   Cite both places

   Name The Ledger and the original publisher. Link the origin when your instructor wants the primary source.

• The Books

  Receipts, the budget, agencies, and state balance of payments.

• Definitions

  Plain-language glossary for revenue, budget, and agency labels.

• Methodology

  What we measure, what we do not blend, and where figures come from.

• Data integrity

  Pass/fail checks on the archives in this build.

• Data cache

  Download product JSON for charts, notebooks, or class projects.

• Usage guidelines

  Free-and-open rules for reuse and attribution.

• Keep fiscal years and election cycles separate. A 2023 spending figure is not a 2024 election result.
• Quote the methodology when a ranking or balance looks surprising. Different official systems count different things.
• Prefer the data cache over scraping HTML if you are building a notebook or chart.
• Check data integrity before you rely on a number in a submitted assignment.

• The Floor

  Major bills, roll calls, committees, and member vote records.

• The Gavel

  SCOTUS merits cases, opinions, arguments, and justice votes.

• The Desk

  Presidencies and curated executive actions from the Federal Register.

• The Race

  Federal election archives and campaign finance. Treat live map tallies as unofficial.

Adapt to your style guide. The important part is naming both this site and the upstream release:

Federal receipt composition for FY 2023, as compiled by The Ledger from Monthly Treasury Statement archives (see origin link on the Revenue page / downloads manifest).