Order Code 97-684 GOV
CRS Report for Congress
Received through the CRS Web
The Congressional Appropriations Process:
An Introduction
Updated July 29, 2003
Sandy Streeter
Analyst in American National Government
Government and Finance Division
Congressional Research Service ˜ The Library of Congress

The Congressional Appropriations Process:
An Introduction
Summary
Congress annually considers 13 or more appropriations measures, which
provide funding for a variety of activities such as national defense, education, disaster
assistance, crime programs, and general government operations, such as the
administration of most federal agencies. Congress has developed certain rules and
practices for the consideration of appropriations measures, referred to as the
appropriations process.
Generally, the appropriations process includes the
! annual appropriations cycle;
! spending ceilings for appropriations associated with the annual
budget resolution; and
! prohibitions against certain language in appropriations measures that
violate separation of the authorization and appropriations functions
into separate measures.
There are three types of appropriations measures. Regular appropriations bills
provide most of the funding that is provided in all appropriations measures for a
fiscal year, and must be enacted by October 1 of each year. If regular bills are not
enacted by the deadline, Congress adopts continuing resolutions to continue funding
generally until regular bills are enacted. Supplemental bills are considered later and
provide additional appropriations.
Appropriations measures are under the jurisdiction of the House and Senate
Appropriations Committees. These committees control only about one-third of total
federal spending provided for a fiscal year. The House and Senate authorizing
committees control the rest.

Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Annual Appropriations Cycle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
President Submits Budget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Congress Adopts Budget Resolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Timetable for Consideration of Regular Appropriations Measures . . . . . . . . 4
Work of the Appropriations Committees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
House and Senate Floor Action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
House . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Senate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
House and Senate Conference Action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Presidential Action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Types of Appropriations Measures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Regular Appropriations Bills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Distribution of Funding Among Regular Appropriations Bills . . . . . . 11
Continuing Resolutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Supplementals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Spending Ceilings for Appropriations Measures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Allocations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Enforcement of Budget Resolution Ceilings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Relationship Between Authorization and
Appropriations Measures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Rescissions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
For Additional Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
CRS Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Congressional Hearings, Reports, and Documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Selected World Wide Web Sites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
List of Tables
Table 1. Number of Regular Appropriations Bills Packaged in a Single
Measure, FY1977-FY2003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Table 2. House and Senate Appropriations Committees’ 302(a)
Allocations, as Adjusted, FY2004 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Table 3. Senate Appropriations Committee’s 302(b) Allocations, FY2004 . . . . 17
Table 4. Senate Discretionary Spending Limits, as Adjusted, FY2004 . . . . . . . . 20

The Congressional Appropriations Process:
An Introduction
Introduction
Congress annually considers 13 or more appropriations measures, which provide
funding for a variety of activities such as national defense, education, disaster
assistance, crime programs, and general government operations, such as the
administration of most federal agencies. Congress has developed certain rules and
practices for the consideration of appropriations measures, referred to as the
appropriations process.
Generally, the appropriations process includes the
! annual appropriations cycle;
! spending ceilings for appropriations associated with the annual
budget resolution; and
! prohibitions against certain language in appropriations measures that
violate separation of the authorization and appropriations functions
into separate measures.
When considering appropriations measures, Congress is exercising the power
granted to it under the Constitution, which states, “No money shall be drawn from
the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law ....”1 The power
to appropriate is exclusively a legislative power. The executive branch may not
spend more than the amount appropriated,2 and it may use available funds only for
the purposes established by Congress.3
The President also has an important role in the appropriations process by virtue
of his constitutional power to approve or veto entire measures and his various duties
imposed by statute, such as submitting an annual budget to the Congress.
1 U.S. Constitution , Article I, Section 9.
2 The Antideficiency Act (31 U.S.C. 1341(a)(1)). This prohibition was derived from a
statute enacted in 1870 (16 Stat. 251). U.S. General Accounting Office, Principles of
Federal Appropriations Law
, 2nd edition, vol. 2, GAO/OGC-91-5, July 1991, pp. 6-10
through 6-12.
3 31 U.S.C. 1301(a). This requirement was originally enacted in 1809 (2 Stat. 535). U.S.
General Accounting Office, Principles of Federal Appropriations Law, 2nd edition, vol. 1,
GAO/OGC-91-5, July 1991, p. 4-2.

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This report discusses the annual appropriations cycle, spending ceilings, and
relationship between authorization and appropriations measures.
Annual Appropriations Cycle
President Submits Budget
The President initiates the appropriations process by submitting his annual
budget for the upcoming fiscal year4 to Congress. The President is required to
submit his annual budget on or before the first Monday in February.5 Congress has
provided extensions of the deadline both statutorily and, sometimes, informally.6
The President recommends spending levels for the various programs and
agencies of the federal government in the form of budget authority, or BA, since
Congress provides budget authority instead of cash to agencies. Budget authority
represents the legal authority for federal agencies to make obligations that usually
result in expenditures (or outlays). These obligations (for example, entering into a
contract to construct a ship or purchase supplies) usually result in outlays, which are
payments from the Treasury, usually in the form of checks, electronic funds transfers,
or cash disbursements.
For example, an FY2003 appropriations act might have provided $120 million
in new budget authority for FY2003 to the Defense Department to procure two
additional fighter aircraft. That is, the act gave the Department legal authority to sign
contracts to build the aircraft. The department can not commit the government to pay
more than $120 million.
The outlays occur when the contractor cashes the
government check for building the aircraft.
Generally, appropriations are a type of budget authority. Appropriations
measures provide new budget authority (as opposed to previously enacted budget
authority). Typically, appropriations must be obligated in the fiscal year for which
they are provided. In the above example, the Defense Department would be required
to sign the construction contracts during FY2003.
Not all new budget authority provided for a fiscal year is expended that year.
For example, although Congress provided $120 million in budget authority for
4 Congress provides spending by fiscal years, in contrast to calendar years. Federal fiscal
years begin on October 1 and end the following September 30. Fiscal Year 2003 (or
FY2003) began on October 1, 2002.
5 31 U.S.C. 1105(a).
6 For information on budget submissions in Presidential transition years, see CRS Report
RS20752, Submission of the President’s Budget in Transition Years, by Robert Keith.

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FY2003 to construct the two aircraft, the outlays may occur over several years, until
the project is completed:
! FY2003, no outlays;
! FY2004, $40 million;
! FY2005, $40 million; and
! FY2006, $40 million.
A total of $120 million in outlays is spent over four fiscal years.
As Congress considers appropriations measures providing new budget authority
for a particular fiscal year, discussions on the resulting outlays only involve
estimates. Data on the actual outlays for a fiscal year are not available until the fiscal
year has ended.
When the President submits his budget to Congress, the agencies provide
detailed justification materials to the House and Senate appropriations
subcommittees, which have jurisdiction over funding for the particular agencies.
Congress Adopts Budget Resolution
The Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974, as amended,
(the Congressional Budget Act)7 requires Congress to adopt an annual budget
resolution.8
During the 27 fiscal years that Congress has considered budget
resolutions, Congress has eventually adopted a budget resolution in every year except
two — FY1999 and FY2003. There is no penalty if the budget resolution is not
completed.
Usually, the budget resolution is Congress’s response to the President’s budget.
The budget resolution must cover at least five fiscal years: the upcoming fiscal year
plus four additional fiscal years.
The budget resolution is never sent to the President, nor does it become law. It
does not provide spending authority or raise or lower revenues, but is instead a guide
for Congress to use as it considers various budget bills, including appropriations and
tax measures.
The budget resolution sets total new budget authority and outlay levels for each
fiscal year covered by the resolution. It also distributes federal spending among 19
functional categories, such as national defense, agriculture, and transportation, and
sets similar levels for each function. The resolution also includes revenue floors for
each fiscal year.
7 P.L. 93-344, as amended; 2 U.S.C. 621-656 (2000).
8 Budget resolutions are under the jurisdiction of the House and Senate Budget Committees.

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Total new budget authority and outlays are distributed among both the House
and Senate committees with jurisdiction over spending, thereby setting spending
ceilings for each committee (see “Allocations” section under “Budget Resolution”).9
The Congressional Budget Act provides an April 15 deadline for final
congressional adoption of the budget resolution. However, Congress frequently does
not meet this deadline and there is no penalty if it is not met.
The Congressional Budget Act generally prohibits House or Senate floor
consideration of revenue or spending measures for a fiscal year until Congress adopts
the budget resolution.10 However, even if the budget resolution is not in place, the
House may begin considering the regular appropriations bills without violating the
act after May 15.11 No such provision exists in the Senate.
Timetable for Consideration of Regular Appropriations
Measures

Traditionally, the House of Representatives had initiated consideration of
regular appropriations measures.12
The House Appropriations Committee has
jurisdiction over appropriations measures and ordinarily began the legislative process
by reporting the 13 regular appropriations bills separately to the full House.
Recently, both the House Appropriations Committee and the Senate
Appropriations Committee, which has jurisdiction over appropriations measures in
the Senate, has been reporting the regular appropriations bills in May or June. The
House committee completes all or almost all of the bills by the annual August recess.
The Senate measures are generally reported before the August recess or in
September.
Generally, the full House begins consideration of the regular appropriations bills
in May or June as well, passing most by the recess. The Senate begins passing the
bills in June or July and completes most of the bills by the end of September.
During the fall, the Appropriations Committees are usually heavily involved in
conferences to resolve differences between the two chambers. Relatively little or no
time is left before the fiscal year begins to resolve what may be wide disparities
between the House and Senate, to say nothing of those between Congress and the
9 The committee ceilings are usually provided in the joint explanatory statement that
accompanies the conference report to the budget resolution.
10 See 2 U.S.C. 634. For information on waiving this parliamentary rule, see CRS Report
RL31443, The “Deeming Resolution:” A Budget Enforcement Tool, by Robert Keith.
11
See 2 U.S.C. 634(b).
Of the three types of appropriations measures, regular
appropriations bills have traditionally provided agencies most of their budget authority (see
“Types of Appropriations Measures,” below).
12 For a description of regular appropriations bills, see “Types of Appropriations Measures,”
below.

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President. Congress is usually faced with the need to enact one or more temporary
continuing resolutions pending the final disposition of the regular appropriations
bills.13
Work of the Appropriations Committees
After the President submits his budget, the House and Senate Appropriations
Committees hold full committee and subcommittee hearings on the segments of the
budget under their jurisdiction. The 13 appropriations subcommittees in each house
hold more detailed hearings on the agencies’ justifications, primarily obtaining
testimony from agency officials.
Each appropriations subcommittee has jurisdiction over one regular
appropriations bill. Each House appropriations subcommittee is paired with a Senate
appropriations subcommittee, both having jurisdiction over the same agencies and
programs.
For example, the House and Senate agriculture appropriations
subcommittees have jurisdiction over the agriculture regular appropriations bill.
After the hearings have been completed and the House and Senate
Appropriations Committees have received their committee spending ceilings from
the budget resolution, the House and Senate appropriations subcommittees begin to
mark up the regular bills under their jurisdiction and report them to their respective
full committees.14
Each appropriations committee considers each of their
subcommittee’s recommendations separately.
The committees may adopt
amendments to a subcommittee bill and then report the bill as amended to their
respective floors for action.
Recently, the Senate Appropriations Committee has generally reported either
original Senate regular appropriations bills or substitute amendments replacing the
texts of the House-passed bills.
House and Senate Floor Action
After the House or Senate Appropriations Committee reports an appropriations
bill to the House or Senate, the bill is brought to the floor.
At this point,
Representatives or Senators are generally provided an opportunity to propose floor
amendments to the bill.
13 For a description of continuing resolutions, see “Types of Appropriations Measures,”
below.
14 If Congress is late in completing action on the budget resolution, the appropriations
committees sometimes use temporary committee spending ceilings and begin the process.
Regarding markup, the chairman usually proposes a draft bill (the chairman’s mark).
The chairman and other subcommittee members discuss amendments to the draft and may
agree to include some (referred to as marking up the bill). Regular appropriations bills are
not introduced prior to full committee markup. The bill is introduced when the House
Appropriations Committee reports the bill; a bill number is assigned at that time. The House
rules allow the House Appropriations Committee to originate a bill. In contrast, most House
committees do not have such authority.

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House. Prior to floor consideration of a regular appropriations bill, the House
generally considers a special rule reported by the House Rules Committee setting
parameters for floor consideration of the bill.15 If the House adopts the special rule,
it usually considers the appropriations bill immediately.
The House considers the bill in the Committee of the Whole of which all
Representatives are members.16 A special rule on an appropriations bill usually
provides for one hour of general debate on the bill. The debate includes opening
statements by the chairman and ranking minority member17 of the appropriations
subcommittee with jurisdiction over the regular bill, as well as other interested
Representatives.
After the Committee of the Whole debates the bill, it considers amendments.18
Amendments must meet requirements of the
! House standing rules and precedents, for example, amendments must
be germane to the bill;
! authorization-appropriations process, which enforces the relationship
between
authorization
and
appropriations
measures
(see
“Relationship Between the Authorization and Appropriations
Measures,” below);
! congressional budget process (see “Allocations” section under
“Budget Resolution”); and
! special rule providing for consideration of the particular bill.
If an amendment violates any of these requirements, any Representative may raise
a point of order to that effect. If the presiding officer rules the amendment out of
order, it cannot be considered on the House floor. The special rule may waive any
of these requirements, thereby allowing the House to consider the amendment.
15 Because the regular appropriations bills must be completed in a timely fashion, House
Rule XIII, clause 5, provides that these appropriations bills are privileged. This allows the
House Appropriations Committee to bring appropriations bills directly to the floor in
contrast to asking the Rules Committee to report a special rule. The latter method is used
for most major measures.
In recent years, the House Appropriations Committee has usually used the special rule
procedure, however. These special rules typically include waivers of certain parliamentary
rules regarding the consideration of appropriations bills and certain provisions within them.
Special rules may also be used for other purposes, such as restricting floor amendments or
waiving parliamentary rules regarding the consideration of specified amendments.
16 House Rule XVIII, clause 3, requires that appropriations measures be considered in the
Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union (Committee of the Whole) before
the House votes on passage of the measures (see CRS Report 95-563, The Legislative
Process on the House Floor: An Introduction
, by Elizabeth Rybicki and Stanley Bach).
17 A ranking minority member of a committee or subcommittee is the head of the minority
party members of the particular committee or subcommittee.
18 They generally consider amendments by going through the bill in order. The presiding
officer asks if there are any amendments to the paragraph (or title) under consideration.

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During consideration of individual regular appropriations bills, the House
sometimes sets additional parameters, either by adopting a special rule or by
unanimous consent. The House agrees to the parameters only if no Representative
objects. For example, the House sometimes agrees to limit debate on individual
amendments by unanimous consent.
After the Committee of the Whole completes consideration of the measure, it
reports the bill with any adopted amendments to the full House. The House then
votes on the adopted amendments and passage. After House passage, the bill is sent
to the Senate.
Senate. The full Senate considers the bill as reported by its Appropriations
Committee. The Senate does not utilize the device of a special rule to set parameters
for consideration of bills.
Before taking up the bill, however, or during its
consideration, the Senate sometimes sets parameters by unanimous consent.
When the bill is brought up on the floor, the chairman and ranking minority
member of the appropriations subcommittee make opening statements on the
contents of the bill as reported.
Committee and floor amendments to the reported bills must meet requirements
under the Senate standing rules and precedents, the authorization-appropriations
process, and the congressional budget process.19 The specifics of the Senate and
House requirements differ. As in the House, the Senate may sometimes waive some
of these rules.20
When the Senate Appropriations Committee reports a Senate bill and after the
full Senate has completed action on it, the Senate waits for the House to send its bill
to the Senate and amends the House-passed bill with generally a substitute
amendment that contains the text of the Senate bill as amended on the Senate floor.
House and Senate Conference Action
Generally, members of the House and Senate appropriations subcommittees
having jurisdiction over a particular regular appropriations bill, the chairmen of
thefull committees, and the ranking minority members of the full committees meet
to negotiate over differences between the House- and Senate-passed bills.21
19 The Senate, in contrast to the House, does not consider floor amendments in the order of
the bill. Senators may propose amendments to any portion of the bill at any time unless the
Senate agrees to set limits.
20 It does so either by unanimous consent or, in some cases, by motion.
21 If the Senate (or House) does not pass a bill, informal negotiations typically take place on
the basis of the reported version of that chamber. For example, the House passed the
FY1999 Interior bill, but the Senate did not. Negotiations then ensued over the House-
passed version and the Senate reported-version. Frequently, the compromise is included in
a conference report on an omnibus appropriations measure (see “Regular Appropriations
Bill” below). The final version of the FY1999 Interior bill was incorporated in the
(continued...)

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Under House and Senate rules, the negotiators (or conferees or managers) are
generally required to remain within the scope of the differences between the positions
of the two chambers.22 Their agreement must be within the range established by the
House- and Senate-passed versions.
For example, if the House-passed bill
appropriates $3 million for a program and a separate Senate amendment provides $5
million, the conferees must reach an agreement that is within the $3-5 million range.
However, these rules are not always followed.23
When the Senate passes a single substitute amendment to a House bill,24 the
conferees must reach agreement on all points of difference between the House and
Senate versions before reporting the conference report in agreement to both houses.
When this occurs, the conferees propose a new conference substitute for the bill as
a whole.
The conferees attach a joint explanatory statement
(or managers’
statement) explaining the new substitute.
Usually, the House considers conference reports on appropriations measures
first because it traditionally considers the measures first. The first house to consider
a conference report has the option of voting to recommit the report to the conference
for further consideration, rejecting the conference report, or adopting it. After the
first house adopts the conference report, the conference is automatically disbanded;
therefore, the second house has two options — adopt or reject the conference report.
Conference reports cannot be amended in either the House or Senate.
If the conference report is rejected, or is recommitted by the first house, the
conferees negotiate further over the matters in dispute between the two houses.25 The
measure cannot be sent to the President until both houses have agreed to the entire
text of the bill.
Presidential Action
After Congress sends the bill to the President, he has 10 days to sign or veto the
measure. If he takes no action, the bill automatically becomes law at the end of the
21 (...continued)
conference report to the FY1999 omnibus appropriations bill (P.L. 105-277), which
included eight regular appropriations bills.
22 House Rule XXII, clause 9, and Senate Rule XXVIII, paragraphs 2 and 3.
23 Generally, before the House considers a conference report on an appropriations measure,
it adopts a special rule waiving all points of order against the conference report and its
consideration, including points of order that the conference report goes beyond the scope
of the differences.
24 Single substitute amendments are used because the Senate Appropriations Committee
reported either a single substitute amendment to the House-passed bill or an original Senate
bill.
25 Technically, if either house rejects the conference report, the two houses normally agree
to further conference, usually appointing the same conferees.

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10-day period. Conversely, if he takes no action when Congress has adjourned, he
may pocket veto the bill.
If the President vetoes the bill, he sends it back to Congress. Congress may
override the veto by a two-thirds vote in both houses. If Congress successfully
overrides the veto, the bill becomes law. If Congress is unsuccessful, the bill dies.
Types of Appropriations Measures
Regular Appropriations Bills
Annually, Congress considers 13 regular appropriations bills, which correspond
to the 13 appropriations subcommittees in the House and Senate. The 13 regular
appropriations bills are provided below:26
! Agriculture;
! Commerce-Justice-State-the Judiciary;
! Defense;
! District of Columbia;
! Energy and Water Development;
! Foreign Operations;
! Homeland Security;
! Interior;
! Labor-Health and Human Services-Education;
! Legislative Branch;
! Military Construction;
! Transportation-Treasury-Independent Agencies; and
! Veterans Affairs-Housing and Urban Development-Independent
Agencies.
Generally, Congress provides appropriations in lump-sum amounts by grouping
related activities together (generally referred to as accounts) and providing budget
authority for each account it chooses to fund. For example, the FY2002 energy and
water act provided an appropriation of $1.7 billion for the “Construction, General”
account of the Army Corps of Engineers. Some of the activities funded in this
account were construction projects regarding flood control and shore protection.
Regular appropriations measures may also include provisions setting aside funds
within an account for a more specific purpose. For example, within the FY2002
26 In response to the recent establishment of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS),
the House and Senate Appropriations Committees reorganized the jurisdiction of their
subcommittees earlier this year. Each committee transferred DHS activities, which were
under the jurisdiction of eight subcommittees, to a single subcommittee — Homeland
Security Subcommittee.
They also transferred all non-DHS activities under the
Transportation subcommittees to the Treasury subcommittees, converting the subcommittees
into the Transportation-Treasury subcommittees. They also transferred a few other agencies
among the subcommittees. The changes are reflected in the list above.

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appropriation for the Corps’ “Construction, General” account, Congress set aside $9
million for the Indianapolis Central Waterfront in Indiana.
The appropriations committees include most set asides for local projects in
committee reports and the joint explanatory statements that accompany conference
reports. Although set asides in committee reports and joint explanatory statements
do not have the force of law, agencies generally follow these guidelines set by the
appropriators since the agencies require annual appropriations.
Appropriations measures may also provide transfer authority.27 Transfers shift
budget authority from one account or fund to another. For example, if the Corps of
Engineers moved budget authority from the “Construction, General” account to the
“Flood Control and Coastal Emergencies” account, that would be a transfer.
Agencies are prohibited from making such transfers without specific statutory
authority.
In contrast, agencies may generally shift budget authority from one activity to
another within an account without such statutory authority; this activity is referred
to as reprogramming.28
The appropriations subcommittees have established
notification and other oversight procedures for the various agencies to follow
regarding reprogramming actions. Generally, these procedures differ with each
subcommittee.
Congress has traditionally considered and enacted each regular appropriations
bill separately. Over the past 27 years (FY1977-FY2003), Congress has used two
other practices as well. In over half of those years, Congress generally began
consideration of 13 separate bills, but ultimately packaged two or more regular
appropriations bills together in one measure, or, in the case of FY2001, into two
measures.29
Packaging regular appropriations bills can be an efficient means of resolving
outstanding differences within Congress and between Congress and the President.
The negotiators can make more convenient trade-offs between issues among several
bills.
Packaging, as Table 1 shows, was used for 9 consecutive fiscal years beginning
in FY1980. The first two of those years (FY1980-FY1981) occurred while President
Jimmy Carter was in the White House, while the remaining seven were during
Ronald Reagan’s presidency. Since that time, it has been used six times — five
during President William J. Clinton’s presidency (FY1996-FY1997 and FY1999-
27 Authorization measures may also provide transfer authority. For information on
authorization measures, see “Relationship Between the Authorization and Appropriations
Measures” below.
28 Agencies may not shift budget authority that has been earmarked within an account in an
appropriations act.
29 The FY2001 Energy and Water bill was attached to the FY2001 VA-HUD bill and the
FY2001 Legislative Branch and Treasury bills were attached to the FY2001 Labor-HHS-
Education bill.

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FY2001) and one during President George W. Bush’s. No regular appropriation bills
where packaged while George H.W. Bush was President (FY1990-FY1993).
Congress has also used another practice: instead of providing funding for the
entire fiscal year in regular appropriations bills, at times it has provided the entire
funding in continuing resolutions (see the discussion on full-year continuing
resolutions in “Continuing Resolutions” below).
Distribution of Funding Among Regular Appropriations Bills.
Congress divides budget authority and the resulting outlays into two categories:
discretionary and mandatory (or direct) spending. Appropriations measures include
both types of spending.
Discretionary spending is controlled by annual
appropriations acts, which are under the jurisdiction of the House and Senate
Appropriations Committees. Mandatory spending is controlled by legislative acts
under the jurisdiction of the authorizing committees (principally the House Ways and
Means and Senate Finance Committees).
Discretionary spending provides funds for a wide variety of activities, such as
those described in the “Introduction,” while mandatory spending predominantly
provides funds for entitlement programs.30 Of total actual outlays for FY2002, only
37% was discretionary spending.
All new budget authority in discretionary spending is provided in annual
appropriations measures.
Some new budget authority in mandatory spending,
predominantly appropriated entitlements, is also provided in appropriations
measures.
30 Entitlements are statutory requirements that government payments be made to any
individual or unit of government that meets eligibility criteria established in the law.
Entitlements are a binding obligation on the government and eligible recipients have legal
recourse if the obligation is not met. Examples of entitlements include Social Security
benefits, Medicare benefits, federal retirement benefits, and unemployment compensation.

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Table 1. Number of Regular Appropriations Bills Packaged in a
Single Measure, FY1977-FY2003
Fiscal Year
Presidential Administration
Number of Bills Packaged
1977
Gerald Ford
0
1978
Jimmy Carter
0
1979
0
1980
2
1981
5
1982
Ronald Reagan
3
1983
6
1984
3
1985
8
1986
7
1987
13
1988
13
1989
0
1990
George H.W. Bush
0
1991
0
1992
0
1993
0
1994
William J. Clinton
0
1995
0
1996
5
1997
6
1998
0
1999
8
2000
5
2001
2,3a
2002
George W. Bush
0
2003
11
Sources: U.S. Congress, Senate Committee on Appropriations, Appropriations, Budget Estimates,
Etc.
, committee prints, 94th Cong., 2nd sess.-103rd Cong., 2nd sess. (Washington: GPO, 1976-1994);
and U.S. Congress, House, Calendars of the U.S. House of Representatives and History of Legislation,
94th-107th Congresses
(Washington: GPO, 1976-2002).
a. The FY2001 Energy and Water Development bill was attached to the FY2001 VA-HUD. The
FY2001 Legislative Branch and Treasury bills were attached to the FY2001 Labor-HHS-
Education bill.
Appropriated entitlements are funded through a two-step process.
First,
authorizing legislation is enacted to set program parameters (through eligibility
requirements and benefit levels, for example); then the Appropriations Committees
must provide the budget authority needed to meet the commitment.
The
Appropriations Committees have little control over the amount of budget authority
provided, since the amount needed is the result of previously enacted commitments
in authorization law. For FY2002, approximately 60% of the budget authority
allocated to the Senate Appropriations Committees was discretionary spending, while
the remaining 40% was mandatory spending.

CRS-13
Instead of directly controlling outlays, Congress controls discretionary spending
by setting levels of new budget authority for specific activities, programs, and
agencies in annual appropriations measures. Congress could, for example, provide
$240 million in new budget authority to build four fighter aircraft in the example
mentioned earlier, instead of $120 million to procure two.
Congress also controls mandatory spending by controlling budget authority. It
does not, however, generally control this form of budget authority by setting specific
spending levels. It controls mandatory spending by establishing parameters for
government commitments in permanent law, such as Social Security benefit levels
and eligibility requirements.
Continuing Resolutions
If action on one or more regular appropriations measures has not been
completed by the beginning of the fiscal year, the agencies funded by these bills must
cease nonessential activities due to lack of budget authority.
Traditionally,
continuing appropriations have been used to maintain temporary funding to agencies
or programs until the regular bills are enacted. Such appropriations continuing
funding are usually provided in a joint resolution, hence the term continuing
resolution
.
In November and again in December 1995, FY1996 continuing resolutions
expired and some regular appropriations bills had not been enacted. As a result,
nonessential activities stopped and federal workers hired to perform those services
did not report for duty.
In 22 of the past 27 years (FY1977-FY2003), Congress and the President have
not completed action on a majority of the regular bills by the start of the fiscal year.
In eight years, they did not finish any of the bills by the deadline. They completed
action on all 13 bills on schedule only three times.31
Traditionally, Congress passes a few temporary continuing resolutions to
provide funding until action is completed on all the regular bills. In contrast to
funding practices in regular appropriations bills (i.e., providing appropriations for
each account), temporary continuing resolutions generally provide funding with
formulas or rates. For example, the temporary continuing resolution could provide
that funding levels for each activity in the regular bills covered will be the lowest of
the following: the amount provided for the last fiscal year, the amount provided in
the House-passed bill, or the amount provided in the Senate-passed bill. Recently,
temporary resolutions have continued funding levels provided in the previous fiscal
year.
In addition to temporary continuing resolutions, Congress also sometimes
enacts full-year continuing resolutions. These measures provide full-year funding in
31 For FY1997, Congress and the President completed all 13 regular bills on time because
they packaged six bills together.

CRS-14
the continuing resolution for the outstanding regular bills, instead of eventually
enacting each regular bill separately.
During the FY1996 budget confrontation between the 104th Congress and the
Clinton Administration, Congress used a another type of continuing resolution.
Traditionally, continuing resolutions provide funding for all activities in the
outstanding regular appropriations bills. However, in 1996, Congress provided
targeted appropriations which separated activities from the outstanding regular bills
and distributed them among three continuing resolutions. Congress distributed
funding for activities in four of the six outstanding regular bills among the three
continuing resolutions. Funding for most of the activities in the fifth regular bill
(Foreign Operations) were provided in one of these continuing resolutions and
funding for the most of the activities in the sixth bill (District of Columbia) in
another.
During the past 27 years, Congress enacted on average four continuing
resolutions per year.32
Supplementals
During the fiscal year, Congress frequently considers one or more supplemental
appropriations measures that provide additional funds for specified activities. For
example, during FY2001 (the calendar year 2001), Congress considered two FY2001
supplementals. Supplementals may provide funding for unforeseen needs, such as
recovery from the 9/11 tragedy or a natural disaster, or to increase or provide funding
for other programs. Sometimes Congress includes supplemental appropriations in
regular bills and continuing resolutions. Supplemental appropriations measures
provide appropriations by account and may include set asides for local projects.
During calendar year 2001, the following appropriations measures were enacted
into law:
! two FY2001 supplementals;
! 13 FY2002 individual regular appropriations bills; and
! eight FY2002 short-term continuing resolutions.
Spending Ceilings for Appropriations Measures
Congress has established the congressional budget process through which it
annually sets spending ceilings associated with the budget resolution and enforces
those ceilings with parliamentary rules, or points of order, during congressional
32 For more information on continuing resolutions, see CRS Report RL30343, Continuing
Appropriations Acts: Brief Overview of Recent Practices
, by Sandy Streeter.

CRS-15
consideration of appropriations bills.33
(In 1990, Congress established the
sequestration process that enforced discretionary spending ceilings. It expired after
September 30, 2002.)34
Allocations. Under the congressional budget process, the budget resolution
distributes the total new budget authority and outlays among the House and Senate
committees with jurisdiction over spending, including the House and Senate
Appropriations Committees. Through this allocation process, the budget resolution
sets total spending ceilings for each House and Senate committee (referred to as
the302(a) allocations).35 Table 2 provides the 302(a) allocations to the House and
Senate Appropriations Committees for FY2004, as adjusted.36
After the Appropriations Committees receive their 302(a) allocations, they
divide their allocations among their 13 subcommittees. This subdivision is referred
to as the 302(b) allocations.37
Table 3 provides the Senate Appropriations
Committee’s 302(b) subdivision of discretionary, mandatory, and total spending for
FY2004. Making 302(b) allocations is within the jurisdiction of the House and
Senate Appropriations Committees, and they typically make revisions to reflect
action on the appropriations bills.
33 The Congressional Budget Act established the congressional budget process in 1974 (P.L.
93-344; 2 U.S.C. 621-656 (2000)).
34 Under this process, Congress by statute had established certain discretionary spending
ceilings that were enforced by automatic across-the-board reductions if enacted spending
exceeded the ceilings, see 2 U.S.C. 900-922 (2000).
35 This refers to section 302(a) of the Congressional Budget Act. Typically, these are
provided in the joint explanatory statement that accompany the conference report to the
budget resolution.
36 The FY2004 budget resolution provides for adjustments to the original 302(a) allocations
to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees under specified conditions. For
example, section 421 of the resolution required adjustments to the 302(a) allocations, as well
as new budget and outlays levels in the budget resolution, to reflect the total amount of new
budget authority (and resulting outlays) subsequently enacted in the Emergency Wartime
Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2003 (P.L. 108-11). The 302(a) allocations in this report
reflect this adjustment.
37 This refers to section 302(b) of the Congressional Budget Act. The 302(b) allocations are
adjusted to reflect any adjustments in the 302(a) allocations.

CRS-16
Table 2. House and Senate Appropriations Committees’ 302(a)
Allocations, as Adjusted, FY2004
as of May 7, 2003
(in billions of dollars)
Spending Category
Housea
Senatea
Discretionary
General Purposeb
New Budget Authority

783.214
Outlays

822.895
Highways
Outlays

31.555
Mass Transit
New Budget Authority
1.461
Outlays

6.634
Total Discretionary
New Budget Authority
784.675
(784.675)
Outlays
861.084
(861.084)
Mandatoryc
New Budget Authority
426.127
426.949
Outlays
409.870
410.619
Total
New Budget Authority

1,211.624
Outlays

1,271.703
Sources: Sen. Don Nickles, remarks in the Senate, Congressional Record, daily edition, vol. 149, May
7, 2003, p. S5846; and Rep. Jim Nussle, remarks in the House, Congressional Record, daily edition,
vol. 149 (May 6, 2003), p. H3663.
a. The FY2004 budget resolution provides for adjustments to the original 302(a) allocations to the
House and Senate Appropriations Committees under specified conditions. For example, section
421 of the resolution required adjustments to the 302(a) allocations, as well as new budget and
outlays levels in the budget resolution, to reflect the total amount of new budget authority (and
resulting outlays) subsequently enacted in the Emergency Wartime Supplemental Appropriations
Act, 2003 (P.L. 108-11). The 302(a) allocations in this table reflect this adjustment.
b. The general purpose discretionary spending category includes all defense discretionary spending
and all non-defense discretionary spending, except highways and mass transit non-defense
discretionary spending.
c. The differences between the House and Senate Committees’ mandatory amounts reflect differing
scorekeeping practices.

CRS-17
Table 3. Senate Appropriations Committee’s 302(b) Allocations, FY2004
as of June 20, 2003
(in billions of dollars)
Discretionary Spending Category
Mandatory
General Purposea
Transportation
Spending Category
Total
Subcommittee
Budget
Budget
Budget
Budget
Authority
Outlays
Authority
Outlays
Authority
Outlays
Authority
Outlays
Agriculture
17.005
17.891
55.536
39.472
72.541
57.363
Commerce-Justice-State
37.014
40.107
.642
.654
37.656
40.761
Defense
368.662
389.387
.528
.528
369.190
389.915
District of Columbia
.495
.497
.495
.497
Energy and Water
Development
27.313
27.359
27.313
27.359
Foreign Operations
18.093
20.253
.044
.044
18.137
20.297
Homeland Security
28.521
30.248
.831
.847
29.352
31.095
Interior
19.627
19.395
.064
.070
19.691
19.465
Labor-HHS-Educationb
137.601
134.932
318.766
318.694
456.367
453.626
Legislative Branch
3.612
3.680
.109
.109
3.721
3.789
Military Construction
9.196
10.297
9.196
10.297
Transportation-Treasury
26.041
33.395
17.518
17.516
43.559
50.911
Highway Category
31.555
31.555
Mass Transit Category
1.461
6.634
1.461
6.634
VA-HUDc
90.034
95.454
32.911
32.685
122.945
128.139
Total
783.214
822.895
1.461
38.189
426.949
410.619
1,211.624
1,271.703
Source: U.S. Congress, Senate Committee on Appropriations, Allocation to Subcommittees of Budget Totals from the Concurrent Resolution for
Fiscal Year 2004
, 108th Cong., 1st sess., S.Rept. 108-77 (Washington: GPO, 2003), p. 3.
a. The general purpose discretionary spending category includes all defense discretionary spending and all non-defense discretionary spending, except
highways and mass transit non-defense discretionary spending.
b. Labor-Health and Human Services-Education.
c. Veterans Affairs-Housing and Urban Development-Independent Agencies.

CRS-18
Enforcement of Budget Resolution Ceilings. Certain spending ceilings
associated with the budget resolution are enforced through points of order raised on
the House and Senate floor when the appropriations measures are brought up for
consideration. Points of order are not self-enforcing. A Representative or Senator
must raise a point of order that a measure, amendment, or conference report violates
a specific rule. Generally, if a Member raises a Congressional Budget Act point of
order and the presiding officer rules that the measure, amendment, or conference
report violates the parliamentary rule, it may not be considered on the floor.
House. Two key House points of order are the 302(f) and 311(a).38 These
points of order apply to all appropriations measures reported by the committee as
well as amendments and conference reports to the measures (for purposes of this
report, these will be referred to as matter).
The 302(f) point of order prohibits floor consideration of appropriations that
exceed the committee or subcommittee allocations of new budget authority (the
302(a) or 302(b) allocations, respectively). In effect, this point of order applies to
total discretionary spending (and any mandatory spending changes initiated on the
appropriations measures).39
For example, if Table 3 had been the House
Appropriations Committee’s 302(b) allocations, the reported FY2004 Agriculture
bill could not have exceeded the Agriculture subcommittee’s total discretionary
spending allocation for FY2004 — $17.005 billion.40
The 311(a) point of order prohibits floor consideration of appropriations that
would exceed the total new budget authority or outlay ceilings in the budget
resolution. As various spending bills for a fiscal year are enacted, the amount of total
new budget authority enacted and the resulting outlays accumulate and the budget
38 These refer to sections 302(f) and 311(a), respectively, of the Congressional Budget Act.
39 It does not effect increased mandatory spending that the appropriators are required to
provide. For example, if the House Appropriations Committee is required to increase new
budget authority for unemployment compensation due to a recession, such budget authority
would not be subject to the point of order.
40 Although the 302(f) point of order in the House enforces new budget authority ceilings,
under House rules certain offset amendments must remain within the total new budget
authority and outlay levels provided in the bill. Due to the 302(f) point of order, Members
frequently must decrease budget authority in a bill for certain activities in order to finance
increases in funding for other activities in order to stay within the 302(a) or 302(b)
allocations (the decreases are referred to as offsets.) An amendment providing both the
increases and decreases is referred to as an offset amendment. Frequently, the increases and
offsets Members prefer are not located in the same place in the bill, and the affected
segments would normally be considered at different times on the House floor.
Offset amendments that amend the text of the bill in more than one place must remain
within the total new budget authority and outlay levels provided in the bill (House Rule
XXI, clause 2(f)). An offset amendment added at the end of a bill that indirectly effects
earlier provisions in the bill would not fall under the procedure provided in Rule XXI,
clause 2(f). However it would still be subject to requirements in section 302. That is, it may
not cause the bill to exceed new budget authority allocations made pursuant to 302(a) or (b).
(For more information, see CRS Report RL31055, House Offset Amendments to
Appropriations Bills: Procedural Considerations
, by Sandy Streeter.)

CRS-19
resolution ceilings are eventually reached. An appropriations bill that would go over
either of the ceilings is subject to the 311(a) point of order. If all the spending bills
stay within their committee spending ceilings, a bill will not exceed the total ceilings
established in the budget resolution. However, in the past, some spending bills have
exceeded their committee ceilings, thereby making bills subject to the 311(a) point
of order. This point of order typically affects the last funding measures considered
for a fiscal year (such as the supplementals).
There are means of protecting matter from these points of order. For example,
the House may waive or suspend either point of order by adopting, by majority vote,
a special rule waiving the particular point of order prior to floor consideration of the
appropriations measure.
Emergency designations may also be used. Budget authority (and resulting
outlays) designated as an emergency requirement pursuant to section 502(b) of the
FY2004 budget resolution41 are exempt from these Congressional Budget Act points
of order.
Typically, the emergency designation appears immediately after the
applicable budget authority in the reported bill, amendment, or conference report.
In the House, emergency-designating language is, however, subject to two other
points of order. These points of order prohibit provisions in most appropriations
bills, as well as amendments and conference reports to those bills, that change
existing law, referred to as legislation on an appropriations bill.42 These points of
order may be waived by House adoption of a special rule providing a waiver.
A means of protecting matter from the 311(a) point of order is the Fazio
Exception, which exempts certain appropriations from this point of order. If the total
for appropriations bills remains within the Appropriations Committee’s total
allocation, the appropriations are excepted from the 311(a) point of order.43
Senate. Three key Senate rules are the 302(f) and 311(a) points of order44 as
well as a point of order established in section 504 of the FY2004 budget resolution.
These points of order apply to all appropriations measures, both those reported by the
committee and amended on the floor. They also apply to amendments, motions, and
conferences reports to these measures.
In the Senate, the 302(f) point of order prohibits floor consideration of
appropriations that exceed the subcommittee allocations in total new budget
authority, total outlays, and each discretionary spending category in new budget
authority and outlays (see Table 3). As in the House, this point of order, in effect,
41 H.Con.Res. 95, 108th Cong.
42 House Rule XXI, clause 2, prohibits legislation on a committee-reported general
appropriations bill and amendments to such bills, and House Rule XXII, clause 5, prohibits
legislation in conference reports to those bills. (For more details, see “Relationship Between
Authorization and Appropriations Measures,” below.)
43 See section 311(c) of the Congressional Budget Act, as amended.
44 These refer to sections 302(f) and 311(a), respectively, of the Congressional Budget Act.

CRS-20
applies to total discretionary spending (and any mandatory spending changes initiated
on the appropriations measures).
The 311(a) point of order in the Senate is the same as in the House; however,
it does not include the Fazio Exception.
Section 504 of the FY2004 budget resolution establishes discretionary spending
limits for FY2003 through FY2005 and prohibits floor consideration of matter that
exceed these limits (see Table 4). The FY2003 and FY2004 discretionary spending
limits correspond to the 302(a) allocations for each discretionary spending category.
Table 4. Senate Discretionary Spending Limits,
as Adjusted, FY2004
as of May 7, 2003
(in billions of dollars)
Discretionary Spending Category
Amounta
General Purpose
New Budget Authority
783.214
Outlays
822.895
Highways
Outlays
31.555
Mass Transit
New Budget Authority
1.461
Outlays
6.634
Sources: Sen. Don Nickles, remarks in the Senate, Congressional Record, daily edition, vol.
149, May 7, 2003, p. S5846.
a. The FY2004 budget resolution allows specified adjustments to the limits that correspond
to the adjustments allowed to the 302(a) allocations for the Senate Appropriations
Committee.
The Senate also has methods for protecting bills, amendments, and conference
reports from these points of order. For example, Senators may make motions to
waive any of these points of order at the time the issue is raised. A vote of three-
fifths of all Senators (usually 60 Senators) is required in the Senate to approve a
waiver motion for any of these points of order. Senators may also appeal the ruling
of the Chair on these points of order, but this supermajority-vote requirement is
needed to sustain an appeal.45
45 The supermajority-vote requirement for the 302(f) and 311(a) points of order expires after
September 30, 2008. The discretionary spending limit point of order and supermajority-vote
requirement expire after FY2005. See section 904(c)(2) and (d)(3) of the Congressional
Budget Act and sections 503 and 504 of the FY2004 budget resolution.

CRS-21
In addition, emergency designations may be used. In the Senate, budget
authority (and resulting outlays) that is designated as an emergency requirement
pursuant to section 502(c) of the FY2004 budget resolution is exempt from these
points of order. In contrast to the House, emergency-designating language is not
considered legislation on an appropriations bill and, therefore, is not subject to the
Senate rule prohibiting legislation.46
Emergency-designating provisions for direct spending and non-defense
discretionary spending are subject to a point of order. If a point of order is sustained
against the emergency language, the language is stricken and the applicable budget
authority is subsequently subject to the points of order enforcing the various spending
ceilings described above. Emergency designations for defense discretionary spending
is exempt from this point of order. A vote of three-fifths of all Senators is required
to approve a waiver motion for this point of order. Senators may appeal the ruling
of the Chair, but this supermajority-vote requirement is needed to sustain an appeal.
Relationship Between Authorization and
Appropriations Measures
Congress has established an authorization-appropriations process that provides
for two separate types of measures—authorization measures and appropriations
measures. These measures perform different functions and are to be considered in
sequence. First, the authorization measure is considered and then the appropriations
measure.
The description that follows explains the relationship between
authorization and appropriations measures regarding discretionary spending.47
Discretionary authorization acts establish, continue, or modify agencies or
programs. For example, an authorization act may change the structure or establish
or modify programs within the Justice Department. The authorization act also
authorizes subsequent appropriations for specific agencies and programs, frequently
setting spending ceilings for them. Authorization acts may provide permanent,
annual, or multi-year authorizations. Annual and multi-year authorizations require
re-authorizations when they expire. Congress is not required to provide
appropriations for an authorized program that is funded with discretionary spending.
Authorization measures are under the jurisdiction of authorizing committees
such as the House Judiciary and Transportation and Infrastructure Committees, or the
Senate Armed Services and Energy and Natural Resources Committees.48 Most
46 Senate Rule XVI.
47 For information regarding direct spending, see Allen Schick, The Federal Budget:
Politics, Policy, Process
, revised edition (Washington: Brookings Institution Press, 2000),
chapter 8.
48 The House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee have
jurisdiction over some authorization measures, all revenue measures, and some mandatory
spending measures.

CRS-22
congressional committees are authorizing committees. Major non-authorization
committees include the House and Senate appropriations and budget committees.
Appropriations measures provide new discretionary budget authority for the
program, activity, or agency previously authorized.
The authorization-appropriations process enforces separation of these functions
into separate measures with points of order prohibiting certain provisions in
appropriations measures.49 The House and Senate prohibit, in varying degrees,
language in appropriations bills providing unauthorized appropriations or legislation
on an appropriations bill
(or riders).
Unauthorized appropriations are new budget authority in an appropriations
measure for agencies or programs whose authorization has expired or was never
authorized, or whose budget authority exceeds the ceiling authorized. Riders refer
to language in appropriations measures that change existing law, such as establishing
new law, or amending or repealing current law.
House rules prohibit unauthorized appropriations and riders in regular
appropriations bills and supplementals, which provide funds for more than one
purpose or agency (referred to in the House as general appropriations bills).
However, House rules do not prohibit such language in continuing resolutions. The
House prohibition applies to bills reported by the House Appropriations Committee,
amendments, and conference reports. The House usually adopts a special rule
waiving this rule prior to floor consideration of an appropriations bill or conference
report.50
Unauthorized set asides within an account are allowed in House
Appropriations Committee reports and joint explanatory statements because the rule
applies only to the text of the bills, amendments, and conference reports.
In the Senate, unauthorized appropriations and riders are treated differently.
The Senate rule regarding such language applies to amendments to (1) regular bills;
(2) supplementals which provide funds for more than one purpose or agency; and (3)
continuing resolutions (referred to in the Senate as general appropriations bills).
This Senate rule applies only to amendments to general appropriations bills,
such as, those
! introduced on the Senate floor;
! reported by the Senate Appropriations Committee to the House-
passed measure; or
! proposed as a substitute for the House-passed text.
49 House Rule XXI, clause 2; House Rule XXII, clause 5; and Senate Rule XVI. House rules
also prohibit appropriations in authorization measures, amendments, or conference reports
(Rule XXI, clause 4 and House Rule XXII, clause 5).
50 The special rule may provide a waiver for specified provisions or all provisions in the bill
that are subject to the point of order. The special rule may also provide a waiver for specific
amendments. Generally, special rules waive points of order against all provisions in all
conference reports on general appropriations measures.

CRS-23
The rule does not apply to provisions in Senate bills or conference reports. For
example, this rule did not apply to provisions in S. 2709, the FY2003 Military
Construction appropriations bill, as reported by the Senate Appropriations
Committee. But it did apply to provisions in H.R. 5010, the FY2003 Defense bill,
as reported by the Senate Appropriations Committee, since this version of the bill
consisted of a substitute amendment to the House-passed bill.51
The Senate rule is less restrictive than the House on unauthorized
appropriations. For example, the Senate Appropriations Committee may report
committee amendments containing unauthorized appropriations. An appropriation
is considered authorized if the Senate previously passes the authorization bill during
the same session of Congress. In contrast, in the House, the authorization bill must
be approved by both houses and signed by the President.
Although the Senate rule generally prohibits unauthorized appropriations in non-
committee amendments, Senators rarely raise this point of order because of
exceptions to the rule. Unauthorized set asides are allowed in Senate Appropriations
Committee reports and joint explanatory statements, as in the House.
The Senate rule prohibits riders in both Senate Appropriations Committee
amendments and non-committee amendments.
Under Senate precedents, an
amendment containing a rider may be considered if it is germane to language in the
House-passed appropriations bill. That is, if the House opens the door by passing a
rider in an appropriations bill, the Senate has an “inherent right” to amend it.
However, if the Senate considers an original Senate bill, rather than the House-passed
bill with amendments, there is no House language to which a rider could be germane.
Therefore, the defense of germaneness is not available. The Senate rule also
prohibits non-germane amendments.
The division between an authorization and an appropriation is limited to
congressional consideration of appropriations measures.
If unauthorized
appropriations or riders remain in a measure as enacted, either because no one raised
a point of order or the House or Senate waived the rules, the provision will have the
force of law.
Again, unauthorized appropriations are generally available for
obligation or expenditure.
Rescissions
Rescissions cancel previously enacted budget authority. To continue the earlier
example, after Congress enacts the $120 million to construct the two fighters, it may
enact legislation canceling the budget authority prior to its obligation. Rescissions
51 The Senate rule reflects Senate practices at the time the rule was established. The Senate
Appropriations Committee traditionally reported amendments to the House-passed
appropriations bill, instead of reporting an original Senate bill. Therefore, the rule’s
prohibition only applies to amendments, both committee and floor amendments. Recently,
the Senate Appropriations Committee began reporting regularly most or all of the bills as
original Senate bills.

CRS-24
are an expression of changed or differing priorities. They may be used to offset
increases in budget authority for other activities.
The President may recommend rescissions to Congress, but it is up to Congress
to act on them. Under Title X of the Congressional Budget Act,52 Congress must
pass a bill approving the President’s rescissions within 45 days of continuous session
of congress
or the budget authority must be spent.
In practice, this usually means that funds proposed for rescission not approved
by Congress must be made available for obligation after about 60 calendar days,
although the period can extend to 75 days or longer.53
In response to the President’s recommendation, Congress may decide not to
approve the amount specified by the President, approve the total amount, or approve
a different amount. In 2002, for instance, President George W. Bush proposed
rescinding $9 million appropriated for a watershed rehabilitation program under the
Agriculture Department. Congress did not concur. Also in 2002, the President
proposed rescinding $157 million of the appropriated funds for Special Payments to
International Financial Institutions. Congress, in response, exceeded the President’s
request and rescinded $159 million of these funds in the FY2002 supplemental
appropriations act (P.L. 107-206).
Congress may also initiate rescissions. An example is the rescission of $14
million from the salaries and expenses account of the Financial Management Service,
Treasury Department, included in the same supplemental. Rescissions can be
included in either separate rescission measures or any of the three types of
appropriations measures.
For Additional Reading
CRS Products
CRS Report RS20441. Advance Appropriations, Forward Funding, and Advance
Funding, by Sandy Streeter.
CRS Report 98-648. Appropriations Bills: What are “General Provisions?,” by
Sandy Streeter.
CRS Report 98-558. Appropriations Bills: What is Report Language?, by Sandy
Streeter.
CRS Report 97-947. The Appropriations Process and the Congressional Budget Act,
by James V. Saturno.
52 Title X is referred to as the Impoundment Control Act.
53 CRS Issue Brief IB89148, Item Veto and Expanded Impoundment Proposals, by Virginia
A. McMurtry.

CRS-25
CRS Report RS31572. Appropriations Subcommittee Structure: History of Changes
from 1920-2003, by James V. Saturno.
CRS Report RL30297. Congressional Budget Resolutions: Selected Statistics and
Information Guide, by Bill Heniff.
CRS Report RS20095. The Congressional Budget Process: A Brief Overview, by
James V. Saturno.
CRS Report RL30343. Continuing Appropriations Acts: Brief Overview of Recent
Practices, by Sandy Streeter.
CRS Report 98-518. Earmarks and Limitations in Appropriations Bills, by Sandy
Streeter.
CRS Report RS21035. Emergency Spending: Statutory and Congressional Rules,
by James V. Saturno.
CRS Report RL30619. Examples of Legislative Provisions in Omnibus
Appropriations Acts, by Robert Keith.
CRS Report RS20348. Federal Funding Gaps: A Brief Overview, by Robert Keith.
CRS Report 98-512. Formulation and Content of the Budget Resolution, by Bill
Heniff.
CRS Report 98-726, Government Performance and Results Act and the
Appropriations Process. by Sandy Streeter.
CRS Report RL31055. House Offset Amendments to Appropriations Bills:
Procedural Considerations, by Sandy Streeter.
CRS Report 98-721. Introduction to the Federal Budget Process, by Robert Keith.
CRS Report 95-563. The Legislative Process on the House Floor: An Introduction,
by Elizabeth Rybicki and Stanley Bach.
CRS Report 96-548. The Legislative Process on the Senate Floor: An Introduction,
by Thomas P. Carr and Stanley Bach.
CRS Report 97-865. Points of Order in the Congressional Budget Process, by
James V. Saturno.
CRS Info Pack IP012B. Budget Process Info Pack, prepared by the Information
Research Division.

CRS-26
Congressional Hearings, Reports, and Documents
U.S. Congress. House. Constitution, Jefferson’s Manual, and Rules of the House
of Representatives, 108th Congress (or House Manual). H.Doc. 107-284, 107th
Congress, 2nd session. Washington, 2002.
–—. House Practice: A Guide to the Rules, Precedents and Procedures of the
House. 108th Congress, 1st session. Washington, 2003.
U.S. Congress. Senate. Riddick’s Senate Procedure. 101st Congress, 2nd session.
Washington, 1992.
Selected World Wide Web Sites
Constitution, Jefferson’s Manual, and Rules of the House of Representatives, 108th
Congress
(or House Manual)
[http://www.gpoaccess.gov/hrm/index.html]
CRS Guides to Congressional Processes: Federal Budget Process
[http://www.crs.gov/products/guides/guidehome.shtml]
Deschler’s Precedents of the U.S. House of Representatives
[http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress/house/precedents/deschler.html]
Hinds’ Precedents (House)
[http://www.gpo.gov/congress/house/precedents/hinds/hinds.html]
House Practice: A Guide to the Rules, Precedents and Procedures of the House
[http://www.gpoaccess.gov/hpractice/browse.html]
Riddick’s Senate Procedure — 101st Congress, 2nd session
[http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress/senate/riddick/index.html]
Rules of the House
[http://www.house.gov/rules/house_rules.htm]
Standing Rules of the Senate
[http://rules.senate.gov/senaterules/menu.htm]