What does the budget of the U.S. government represent? (A) a statement justifying the provision of public goods

(B) an approach to taxation, tariffs, and monetary policy

(C) an agreement among various politicians about public spending

(D) a plan for borrowing money to cover the national debt

The answer is the second step.
Up to this stage, the listeners already fully receive the full raw information that given by the speaker.
The listener than will start the deciphering process of this message and translate into concepts that indicated through the communication process.