Figure 1. Legislative Branch Funding: Distribution in FY2020

Source: CRS analysis of legislative branch appropriations acts and related budget documents.

Notes: Total does not include permanent budget authorities, including funding for Member pay, that are not included in the annual legislative branch appropriations bill. Total also excludes offsetting collections and authority to spend receipts.

Pursuant to 31 U.S.C. 1105, "Estimated expenditures and proposed appropriations for the legislative branch and the judicial branch to be included in each budget ... shall be submitted to the President ... and included in the budget by the President without change." Division C of the FY2012 Consolidated Appropriations Act (P.L. 112-74) added language to 31 U.S.C. 1107 relating to budget amendments, stating: "The President shall transmit promptly to Congress without change, proposed deficiency and supplemental appropriations submitted to the President by the legislative branch and the judicial branch."

OMB Circular A-11, part 2, "Preparation and Submission of Budget Estimates," section 25, provides the following information for agencies and entities, including the legislative branch, "not subject to Executive Branch review by law or custom. That means that the requirements for submitting materials in support of your budget request do not apply to you. However, you do need to submit the information required for inclusion in the budget database and documents, which OMB incorporates without revision" (https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/whitehouse.gov/files/omb/assets/a11_current_year/s25.pdf).

FY2018 is the most recent year for which actual, rather than estimated, data are available. Calculations by CRS with data from Office of Management and Budget (OMB), "Table 5.4—Discretionary Budget Authority By Agency: 1976–2024," in Historical Tables, Budget of the United States Government, FY2020, at https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/historical-tables/. The calculations have some limitations, since the OMB data do not completely align with items funded in the annual and supplemental legislative branch appropriations acts. The differences may be partially traced to the definition of "legislative branch" in the OMB Public Budget Database user's guide. Some entities regularly included with the legislative branch in many OMB budget documents, like the U.S. Tax Court and some Legislative Branch Boards and Commissions, are not funded through the annual legislative branch appropriations acts. Consequently, an examination of the discretionary budget authority listed in the Historical Tables reveals some differences with the reported total budget authority provided in the annual legislative branch appropriations acts. The difference in legislative branch budget authority resulting from the different definitions of the legislative branch in the OMB budget documents and in the appropriations acts, however, does not represent a significant difference in the proportion of total discretionary budget authority.

FY2018 is the most recent year for which actual, rather than estimated, data are available. Calculations by CRS with data from Office of Management and Budget (OMB), "Table 5.2—Budget Authority by Agency: 1976–2024," in Historical Tables, Budget of the United States Government, FY2020, at http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/Historicals. The calculations have some limitations, since, as stated above, the OMB data do not completely align with items funded in the annual and supplemental legislative branch appropriations acts.

P.L. 117-103). The House-reported FY2023 legislative branch appropriations bill (H.R. 8237) would continue the pay freeze for another year (Section 212). Although discussion of Member pay is often associated with appropriations bills, these bills do not contain language funding or increasing Member pay, and a prohibition on the automatic annual Member pay adjustments could be included in any bill, or be introduced as a separate bill. For a list of the laws that have previously contained provisions prohibiting the annual pay adjustments, see “Table 3. Legislative Vehicles Used for Pay Prohibitions, Enacted Dates, and Pay Language” in CRS Report 97-1011, Salaries of Members of Congress: Recent Actions and Historical Tables, by Ida A. Brudnick. 8 For mandatory spending language, see P.L. 97-51, 95 Stat. 966, September 11, 1981; and, for example, "“Table 2726-1. Federal ProgramsBudget By Agency and Account"” in Analytical Perspectives, Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2023Year 2019 (Washington, GPO: 2018), pp. 2, 3. For the Ethics Reform Act, see P.L. 101-194, 103 Stat. 1767-1768, November 30, 1989.

9 The potential Member pay adjustment was determined by a formula using the Employment Cost Index (private industry wages and salaries, not seasonally adjusted), based on the 12-month percentage change reported for the quarter ending December 31, minus 0.5%. The 2.6%3% potential adjustment was determined by taking the percentage increase in the indexthe Index between the quarters ending December 20172019 and December 20182020, which was 3.12.8%, and subtracting 0.5%. U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Cost Index—December 2018 (Washington:2020, January 31, 2019)2020, p. 3. Pursuant to 2 U.S.C. §4501(2)(A), this amount is "“rounded to the nearest multiple of $100.” Congressional Research Service 8 Legislative Branch Appropriations: Frequently Asked Questions In contrast, the salaries and benefits for legislative branch employees are provided by the legislative branch appropriations acts, although they generally do not address pay adjustments.10 Author Information Ida A. Brudnick Specialist on the Congress Disclaimer This document was prepared by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). CRS serves as nonpartisan shared staff to congressional committees and Members of Congress. It operates solely at the behest of and under the direction of Congress. Information in a CRS Report should not be relied upon for purposes other than public understanding of information that has been provided by CRS to Members of Congress in connection with CRS’s institutional role. CRS Reports, as a work of the United States Government, are not subject to copyright protection in the United States. Any CRS Report may be reproduced and distributed in its entirety without permission from CRS. However, as a CRS Report may include copyrighted images or material from a third party, you may need to obtain the permission of the copyright holder if you wish to copy or otherwise use copyrighted material. 10 Rather, adjustments may be determined by employing authorities (in the case of House and Senate employees) or broader or agency-specific pay systems. For example, see the Orders of the Speaker of the House of Representatives (issued pursuant to 2 U.S.C. §4532 note); Orders of the President pro Tempore (issued pursuant to 2 U.S.C. 4571); and laws governing employment for individual agencies, positions, or pay systems. Congressional Research Service R43397 · VERSION 19 · UPDATED 9 rounded to the nearest multiple of $100."

Rather, adjustments may be determined by employing authorities (in the case of House and Senate employees) or broader or agency-specific pay systems. For example, see the Orders of the Speaker of the House of Representatives (issued pursuant to 2 U.S.C. 4532 note); Orders of the President pro Tempore (issued pursuant to 2 U.S.C. 4571); and laws governing employment for individual agencies, positions, or pay systems.

The House and Senate office building accounts are 2 of the 10 accounts that fund operations of the Architect. The other accounts fund general administration, Capitol building, Capitol grounds, Capitol power plant, Library buildings and grounds, Capitol Police buildings and grounds, Capitol Visitor Center, and Botanic Garden.

For example, the FY1996 conference report states (U.S. Congress, House Committee on Appropriations, FY1996 Legislative Branch Appropriations Bill, H.Rept. 104-212, report to accompany H.R. 1854 [Washington: GPO, 1995], p. 9):

Inasmuch as the amendment relates solely to the Senate and in accord with long practice under which each body concurs without intervention, the managers on the part of the House, at the request of the managers on the part of the Senate, have receded to the Senate amendment, as amended.

Similarly, the FY2010 conference report states (U.S. Congress, conference committee, FY2010 Legislative Branch Appropriations Bill, H.Rept. 111-265, report to accompany H.R. 2918 [Washington: GPO, 2009], p. 33):

Inasmuch as these items relate solely to the House, and in accord with long practice under which each body determines its own housekeeping requirements and the other concurs without intervention, the managers on the part of the Senate, at the request of the managers on the part of the House, have receded to the amendment of the House as amended.