Reconciliation Directives:
Components and Enforcement
Megan Suzanne Lynch
Analyst on Congress and the Legislative Process
April 15, 2010
Congressional Research Service
7-5700
www.crs.gov
R41186
CRS Report for Congress
P
repared for Members and Committees of Congress
Reconciliation Directives: Components and Enforcement
Summary
The purpose of the reconciliation process is to enhance Congress’s ability to bring existing
spending, revenue, and debt-limit laws into compliance with current fiscal priorities established in
the annual budget resolution. When Congress adopts a budget resolution, it is agreeing upon its
budgetary goals for the upcoming fiscal year. In some cases, for these goals to be achieved,
Congress must pass legislation that alters current revenue, direct spending, or debt-limit laws.
Reconciliation instructions are the means by which Congress can establish the roles that specific
committees will play in achieving these goals.
Budget reconciliation is an optional, congressional process that consists of several different
stages. The first stage in the reconciliation process is the adoption of the budget resolution. If
Congress intends to utilize the reconciliation process to achieve its budgetary goals, reconciliation
directives (also referred to as reconciliation instructions) must be included in the annual budget
resolution.
To achieve the budgetary goals set forth in the budget resolution, reconciliation directives
designate which committee(s) should report reconciliation legislation, the date by which the
committee(s) should report, the dollar amount of budgetary change to be achieved in the
reconciliation legislation, and the time period over which the impact of the budgetary change
should be measured. They might also include language identifying the type of budgetary change
that should be reported as well as other procedural provisions, contingencies, and programmatic
direction. This report discusses these various components of reconciliation instructions.
There is no procedural mechanism for requiring a committee to report reconciliation legislation
on time, or at all. Each chamber, however, has methods that it can employ to allow it to move
forward with reconciliation legislation and to include legislative language that falls within the
non-reporting committee’s jurisdiction, in the event that a committee has not reported. These
methods vary by chamber.
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Contents
The Reconciliation Process ......................................................................................................... 1
Overview of the Reconciliation Process ................................................................................ 1
Reconciliation Directives ............................................................................................................ 2
Components of Reconciliation Directives.................................................................................... 3
The Committee(s) Directed to Report Reconciliation Legislation........................................... 3
Single Committee Directive vs. Multiple Committee Directives ...................................... 3
Particular Committees Directed to Report ....................................................................... 3
Multiple Directives to a Single Committee ...................................................................... 4
The Dollar Amount of Budgetary Change.............................................................................. 4
The Type of Reconciliation Legislation to be Reported.......................................................... 5
Spending......................................................................................................................... 5
Revenue.......................................................................................................................... 6
Public Debt-Limit ........................................................................................................... 6
Combination ................................................................................................................... 6
The Time Period Over Which the Budgetary Change Should Occur....................................... 7
Dates for Reporting Reconciliation Legislation ..................................................................... 8
Contingent Provisions in Reconciliation Directives ............................................................... 8
Policy Instruction in Reconciliation Directives ...................................................................... 9
Enforcement of Reconciliation Directives ................................................................................... 9
Procedural Enforcement of Budget Reconciliation Timing..................................................... 9
In the Event that a Committee Does Not Respond to a Reconciliation Directive .................. 10
House of Representatives .............................................................................................. 10
Senate ........................................................................................................................... 10
Figures
Figure 1. Major Stages of the Reconciliation Process................................................................... 2
Contacts
Author Contact Information ...................................................................................................... 11
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The Reconciliation Process
The purpose of the reconciliation process is to enhance Congress’s ability to bring existing
spending, revenue, and debt-limit laws into compliance with current fiscal priorities established in
the annual budget resolution.1 When Congress adopts a budget resolution, it is agreeing upon
budgetary goals for the upcoming fiscal year. In some cases, for these goals to be achieved,
Congress must pass legislation that alters current revenue, direct spending, or debt-limit laws. In
this situation, Congress seeks to reconcile existing law with its current priorities. The
reconciliation process is still a relatively new congressional process in that there have only been
23 reconciliation bills passed by Congress since the first use of reconciliation in 1980.
Overview of the Reconciliation Process
Budget reconciliation is an optional, congressional process that consists of several different stages
(Figure 1). The first stage in the reconciliation process is the adoption of the budget resolution. If
Congress intends to utilize the reconciliation process, reconciliation directives (also referred to as
reconciliation instructions) must be included in the annual budget resolution. These directives
trigger the second stage of the process by instructing individual committees to develop and report
legislation that would change laws within their jurisdiction related to spending, revenue, or the
debt-limit. These directives detail which committee(s) should report reconciliation legislation, the
date by which the committee(s) should report, the dollar amount of budgetary change to be
achieved in the reconciliation legislation, and the time period over which the impact of the
budgetary change should be measured.2 If a single committee is directed in the budget resolution
to develop reconciliation legislation, it will likely be instructed to report this language directly to
its full chamber. If, however, several committees are directed to report reconciliation legislation,
they typically will be directed to submit the language to their respective Budget Committee for
packaging, without any substantive change, into an omnibus measure.3
During the second stage of the reconciliation process, the specified committee develops
legislation in response to the reconciliation directive included in the budget resolution. The
committee will then meet to vote whether to report that language. The committee may vote to
report the language favorably or unfavorably, the latter meaning that although it satisfied its
directive, the committee did not support the language.4
As stated above, if more than one committee has been directed to report reconciliation legislation,
they are directed to submit such language to their respective Budget Committee. The Budget
Committee then packages all committee responses into an omnibus budget reconciliation bill
1 As provided in the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 as amended, Titles I-IX of P.L. 93-344, 2 U.S.C. 601-688 (the
Budget Act). Section 310 of the act is codified at 2 U.S.C. 641. Although the reconciliation process was first used by
the House and Senate in 1980 (for FY1981), this report focuses on the period covering 1989 (for FY1990) through
2009 (for FY2010).
2 Directives sometimes also include language regarding the type of change that should be reported as well as procedural
provisions, contingencies, and programmatic direction. For more information on the language of directives, see the
section below.
3 Section 310(b)(2) of the Budget Act.
4 For example, on October 15, 1990, the House Post Office and Civil Service committee voted unanimously to report
unfavorably reconciliation language to satisfy its reconciliation directive.
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without making any substantive revisions and votes on whether to report the omnibus
reconciliation bill to the full chamber. In this way, both the legislative committees and the Budget
Committees in both chambers have important roles to play in the reconciliation process.
During the final stages of the reconciliation process, the reported legislation is considered under
expedited procedures in both the House and Senate.5 As with all legislation, any differences in the
reconciliation legislation as passed by the two chambers must be resolved before the bill can be
sent to the President for the final stage of the process, either approval or veto.
Sometimes the reconciliation process triggered in the annual budget resolution of a specific year
is not completed until the subsequent year. For instance, the FY2006 budget resolution6, agreed to
on April 28, 2005, included reconciliation directives that resulted in the enactment of two
reconciliation bills, but these bills were not signed into law until February and May of 2006.7
Figure 1. Major Stages of the Reconciliation Process
Source: Congressional Research Service.
Reconciliation Directives
As described above, Congress has the option of including reconciliation directives in its annual
budget resolution. These directives trigger the reconciliation process, and without their inclusion
in a budget resolution, no measure would be eligible to be considered under expedited
reconciliation procedures.
When reconciliation directives are included in an annual budget resolution, their purpose is to
require committees to develop and report legislation that will allow Congress to achieve the
budgetary goals set forth in the annual budget resolution. These directives detail which
committee(s) should report reconciliation legislation, the date by which the committee(s) should
report, the dollar amount of budgetary change that should exist within the reconciliation
5 For more information on the consideration of reconciliation legislation in the House and Senate, see CRS Report
RL33030, The Budget Reconciliation Process: House and Senate Procedures, by Robert Keith and Bill Heniff Jr.
6 H.Con.Res. 95 (109th Congress).
7 Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (P.L. 109-171), signed into law on February 8, 2006 and Tax Increase Prevention and
Reconciliation Act of 2005 (P.L. 109-222) signed into law on May 17, 2006.
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legislation, and the time period over which the impact of the budgetary change should be
measured. They might also include language regarding the type of budgetary change that should
be reported8 as well as other procedural provisions, contingencies, and programmatic direction.
Components of Reconciliation Directives
The Committee(s) Directed to Report Reconciliation Legislation
As described above, reconciliation directives in a budget resolution direct a specific committee or
committees to develop legislation within its jurisdiction achieving a desired budgetary outcome.
Single Committee Directive vs. Multiple Committee Directives
In both the House and Senate, reconciliation instructions in a budget resolution have directed
either a single committee to report, or multiple committees to report. In cases when only one
committee has been directed to report, the process directs the committee to report its
reconciliation legislation directly to its full chamber. If the budget resolution instructs more than
one committee to report reconciliation legislation, then those committees have been directed to
submit their legislative recommendations to their respective Budget Committee.9 The Budget
Committee then packages the committee responses into an omnibus budget reconciliation bill
without making any substantive revisions, and votes on whether to report the omnibus
reconciliation bill.
Particular Committees Directed to Report
Any legislative committee with jurisdiction over spending, revenues, or the debt limit may be
directed to report reconciliation legislation, and many have been instructed to report
reconciliation legislation at some point. Because the Senate Finance Committee and the House
Committee on Ways and Means each have jurisdiction within their respective chamber over all
revenue and debt-limit legislation, as well as some direct spending legislation, these committees
are often directed to report some type of reconciliation legislation when reconciliation directives
are included in a budget resolution. Since the 101st Congress, 13 budget resolutions have included
reconciliation directives to Senate committees. Twelve of those thirteen budget resolutions
directed the Senate Finance Committee to report reconciliation legislation. Similarly, in that same
period, 13 budget resolutions have included reconciliation directives to House committees.
Twelve of those thirteen budget resolutions directed the House Ways and Means Committee to
report reconciliation legislation.
In current practice, reconciliation may include mandatory spending legislation, but does not
include discretionary spending. Discretionary spending is subject to other enforcement
8 Section 310 of the Budget Act recognized three types of reconciliation legislation that committees may be directed to
report: spending, revenue, and debt-limit.
9 Section 310(b) of the Budget Act.
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mechanisms.10 The Appropriations Committees have only been directed to report reconciliation
legislation on two occasions, the last of which was in 1981.11
Multiple Directives to a Single Committee
Individual committees sometimes are given several separate reconciliation directives within a
single budget resolution. In 2000, for instance, the budget resolution included four separate
reconciliation instructions to the House Ways and Means Committee.12
There are several reasons why a budget resolution may include multiple directives to a single
committee. First, a committee may be directed to report more than one kind of reconciliation
legislation (revenue, spending, or debt-limit legislation) with a separate directive given for each
type.13 The Budget Act also recognizes that committees may be directed to report a combination
of spending and revenue legislation, including a directive to achieve deficit reduction. If a
committee is given more than one directive, for instance to increase revenues and decrease
spending, then the committee may respond with separate pieces of legislation.
A committee may also be asked to report reconciliation legislation that achieves budgetary goals
over different periods of time. Lastly, reconciliation directives may be separated to make clear
that the directives are intended to achieve separate policy goals.14
The Dollar Amount of Budgetary Change
Reconciliation directives set forth the dollar amount that reconciliation legislation should alter
spending or revenue levels. Directives that would reduce spending or increase revenues are
typically aimed at reducing or eliminating a deficit. These types of directives include a dollar
amount that in practice is considered a minimum amount of deficit reduction, sometimes referred
to as a floor, meaning a committee may report greater spending cuts or tax increases, but not less.
Conversely, directives that would increase spending or reduce revenues are typically aimed at
reducing or eliminating a surplus. These types of directives include a dollar amount that in
practice is considered a maximum, sometimes referred to as a ceiling, meaning that the committee
might report a lower level of spending increases or revenue reductions, but not greater. Further,
the Budget Act provides that it is not in order in the Senate to consider reconciliation legislation
10 Discretionary spending levels are enforced by Section 302(f) of the Budget Act which prohibits consideration of any
measure or amendment that would cause 302(a) committee allocations, or 302(b) subdivisions to be exceeded. For
more information, see CRS Report R40472, The Budget Resolution and Spending Legislation, by Megan Suzanne
Lynch.
11 In the budget resolution for FY1981 (H.Con.Res. 307, 96th Congress) the House Appropriations Committee and the
Senate Appropriations Committee were directed to report reconciliation legislation and in the budget resolution for
FY1982 (H.Con.Res. 115, 97th Congress) the Senate Appropriations Committee was directed to report reconciliation
legislation.
12 H.Con.Res. 290, the budget resolution for FY2001, Section 103.
13 This only pertains to the Senate Finance Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee since they are the
only committees to have jurisdiction over revenue and debt-limit legislation.
14 For instance, the budget resolution for FY2010 (S.Con.Res. 13) included two directives to the House Committee on
Education and Labor: one under the subheading Health Care Reform, and the other under Investing in Education.
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that includes extraneous matter. One definition of extraneous is a provision that would increase
the deficit beyond the period specified in the reconciliation directive.15
Compliance with the dollar amount set forth in a reconciliation directive is measured on a net
basis. This means that legislation responding to a directive to reduce spending, for instance, might
have a provision that would increase spending for a certain program. This would be considered in
order as long as the legislation, taken as a whole, would satisfy the overall spending decreases set
forth on the reconciliation directive.
If a committee does not respond to its directive, each chamber has methods that it may employ
that would allow it to include legislative language that falls within the non-reporting committee’s
jurisdiction to satisfy the committee’s directive. For more information, see the section on
“Enforcement of Reconciliation Directives,” below.
The Type of Reconciliation Legislation to be Reported
Section 310 of the Budget Act recognizes three types of reconciliation legislation that committees
may be directed to report: spending, revenue, and debt limit. The Budget Act also recognizes that
committees may be directed to report a combination of the three, including a direction to achieve
deficit reductions, which may result from an unspecified combination of revenue increases and
spending decreases. If a committee is given more than one directive, for instance to increase
revenues and decrease spending, then the committee may respond with separate pieces of
legislation. Under current Senate practice, however, this provision has been interpreted to mean
that no more than one reconciliation measure of each type is permitted. Reconciliation
instructions, therefore, may result in the creation of as many as three reconciliation bills that may
be considered on the floor under expedited procedures, but no more than one each for spending,
revenue, and the debt limit.
Spending
In current practice, reconciliation directives pertain to direct spending which is in the jurisdiction
of House and Senate legislative committees, rather than discretionary spending, which is in the
jurisdiction of the Appropriations Committees. Such direct spending directives may instruct a
committee to report legislation that would effect spending levels. A committee may respond to the
directive by reporting changes to direct spending programs or by recommending changes in
offsetting collections. Offsetting collections, such as user fees for water or mineral rights on
federal land, are treated as negative spending rather than as revenues.
Reconciliation directives pertaining to direct spending generally refer to changes in outlay levels.
The outlay level is the projected level of dispersed federal funds. Outlays differ from budget
authority (which gives agencies the authority to incur obligations) and are used to assess the
impact of the legislative changes on the federal budget.
In practice, if a reconciliation directive instructs a committee to report legislation reducing
spending by a specific amount, that amount is the minimum by which the legislation should
reduce spending. Conversely, if a reconciliation instruction directs a committee to report language
15 Section 313(b)1 of the Budget Act.
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increasing spending, that amount is a maximum by which spending should be increased. An
example of a spending instruction is as follows:
The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural resources shall report changes in laws within
its jurisdiction that provide direct spending ... to reduce outlays $6,000,000 in fiscal year
2002 .... 16
Revenue
Reconciliation directives may instruct a committee to recommend legislation that would increase
or decrease revenues. Reconciliation directives to alter current revenue laws fall under the
jurisdiction of the Senate Finance Committee and House Ways and Means Committee.
Similar to spending directives, in practice, if a reconciliation directive instructs a committee to
report legislation increasing revenues by a specific amount, that amount is the minimum by which
the legislation should increase revenues. Conversely, if a reconciliation directive includes
instructions to decrease revenue, that amount is a maximum by which revenue should be
decreased. An example of a revenue instruction is as follows:
The Committee on Finance shall report changes in laws within its jurisdiction necessary to
reduce revenues by not more that $122,400,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 1997
through 2002.17
Public Debt-Limit
There is a statutory limit on the total amount of debt that the federal government may incur at any
time. In the event that Congress determines the debt limit to be too high or too low, legislation
can be enacted to alter it. The reconciliation process is one of three methods Congress has utilized
to consider debt-limit legislation in recent years, although it is the least frequently used, being
employed only four times.18
Reconciliation directives to amend the public debt limit fall under the jurisdiction of the Senate
Finance Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee. An example of a public debt-
limit directive is as follows:
(D) The Senate Committee on Finance shall report changes in law within its jurisdiction
which provide for an increase in the permanent statutory limit on the public debt by an
amount not to exceed $1,900,000,000,000.19
Combination
Reconciliation directives may also instruct a committee to recommend legislation achieving a
certain level of deficit reduction without specifying the method. This option allows a committee
16 H.Con.Res. 84 (105th Congress).
17 H.Con.Res. 178 (104th Congress).
18 For more information on consideration of debt-limit legislation in the House and Senate, see CRS Report 98-453,
Debt-Limit Legislation in the Congressional Budget Process, by Bill Heniff Jr.
19 H.Con.Res. 310 (101st Congress).
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to respond with legislation that includes spending decreases, tax increases, or a combination of
the two. Only the Senate Finance Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee would
receive such a directive since they are the only two committees with jurisdiction over revenue
legislation. An example of a deficit reduction directive is as follows:
...the Senate Committee on Finance shall report changes in laws within its jurisdiction
sufficient (1) to reduce outlays, (ii) to increase revenues, or (iii) any combination thereof, as
follows $2,000,000,000 in fiscal year1991....20
Similarly, when either the House Ways and Means Committee or the Senate Finance Committee
is instructed to report both spending and revenue legislation, they are granted some flexibility
under the “fungibility rule.”21 An example of such a directive is as follows:
...the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives shall report to the
House of Representatives a reconciliation bill not later than May 18, 2001, that consists of
changes in laws within its jurisdiction sufficient to reduce revenues by not more than
$1,250,000,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 2001 through 2011 and the total level of
outlays may be increased by not more than $100,000,000,000 for the period of fiscal years
2001 through 2011.22
The fungibility rule deems a committee to have satisfied both parts of the reconciliation directive
even if the committee’s recommendations cause either the spending changes or the revenue
changes to exceed or fall below its directive by more than 20% of the sum of the two types of
changes, as long the total amount of changes reported is equal to the total amount of changes
instructed.
The Time Period Over Which the Budgetary Change Should Occur
Reconciliation directives may specify either a single year or a period of years over which the
impact of budgetary change should be measured. For example, an instruction might direct a
committee to report legislation decreasing spending by a certain amount in the upcoming fiscal
year, as well as an amount for a more extended period, typically the entire period covered by the
budget resolution.23 An example is as follows:
(A) COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, NUTRITION, AND FORESTRY- The Senate
Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry shall report changes in laws within its
jurisdiction that provide direct spending (as defined in section 250(c)(8) of the Balanced
Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985) to reduce outlays $86,000,000,000 in
fiscal year 1997 and $251,000,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 1997 through 2002.24
20 H.Con.Res. 310 (101st Congress).
21 Section 310(c)(1) of the Budget Act.
22 H.Con.Res. 83 (107th Congress).
23 Section 301(a) of the Budget Act currently requires the budget resolution to include the upcoming budget year and
the four ensuing fiscal years, but on occasion the budget resolution has included levels for a longer period.
24 H.Con.Res. 178 (104th Congress).
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Dates for Reporting Reconciliation Legislation
Reconciliation directives included in an annual budget resolution direct a committee to report (or
submit to the Budget Committee) legislation by a specific date.25 For example
(b) Not later than June 20, 1980, each committee specified in subsection (a) shall submit its
recommendations to the Committee on the Budget of its House.26
(1) Not later than July 23, 1999, the Senate Committee on Finance shall report to the Senate
a reconciliation bill....27
These dates may vary in several respects. In some years, they have been the same for both the
House and Senate committees. Due dates have sometimes been as early as April or as late as
October28 and have fallen within every month between except August. In some cases, staggered
deadlines may be used to regulate the pace of legislative activity.
Committees have typically responded to their directives early and on time. Committees have also
responded to their directive after the date specified, with no impact on whether the resultant
legislation was considered as reconciliation legislation. In other words, late responses to a
reconciliation directive did not cause the bill to lose its privileged status as a reconciliation bill.
There is no procedural mechanism, such as a point of order, for enforcing the date specified in the
reconciliation directive. Each chamber, however, has methods it can employ to allow it to move
forward with reconciliation legislation and include legislative language that falls within the non-
reporting committee’s jurisdiction to satisfy the committee’s directive. For more information, see
the section on “Enforcement of Reconciliation Directives,” below.
Contingent Provisions in Reconciliation Directives
Budget resolutions have sometimes included contingent provisions in reconciliation directives.
Such provisions typically dictate that certain things within a reconciliation directive may be
altered, contingent on the occurrence of a specific event.
For instance, the budget resolution for FY1996 stated that a certain reconciliation directive would
be valid only after the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) certified that the recommendations
would balance the budget for a specific time period.29
(1) CERTIFICATION- In the Senate, upon the certification pursuant to section 205(a) of this
resolution, the Senate Committee on Finance shall submit its recommendations pursuant to
paragraph (2) to the Senate Committee on the Budget. After receiving those
recommendations, the Committee on the Budget shall add these recommendations to the
25 For more information on dates of committee reconciliation submission see CRS Report R41151, Budget
Reconciliation Process: Timing of Committee Responses to Reconciliation Directives, by Megan Suzanne Lynch.
26 H.Con.Res. 307 (96th Congress).
27 H.Con.Res. 68 (106th Congress).
28 H.Con.Res. 64 (103rd Congress) included a due date of April 2. S.Con.Res. 13( 111th Congress) and H.Con.Res. 310
(101st Congress) both included due dates of October 15.
29 H.Con.Res. 67 (104th Congress), Section 105(b).
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recommendations submitted pursuant to subsection (a) and report a reconciliation bill
carrying out all such recommendations without any substantive revision.
Policy Instruction in Reconciliation Directives
Reconciliation directives are included in an annual budget resolution with the purpose of
achieving budgetary goals, and instructions are given to committees to recommend legislation
within their jurisdiction that would have a specific budgetary effect. The programmatic details of
the legislation, and how those budgetary goals should be met, therefore, are left to the discretion
of the specified committee. In general, committees may report any matter within their
jurisdiction.30 Reconciliation directives do, however, sometimes include programmatic
expectations or detail, although they are not binding.31
Including programmatic direction in a reconciliation instruction allows the Budget Committee to
communicate policy preferences or assumptions, but does not compel the specified legislative
committee to comply with them. Examples of policy instructions include the following:
It is the sense of the Congress that of the total amount reconciled in subsection (a),
$100,000,000,000 will be for an economic stimulus package over the next 2 years,32 and
(a) Health Care Reform.-(1) The House Committee on Energy and Commerce shall report
changes in laws to reduce the deficit by $1,000,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 2009
through 2014.33
Enforcement of Reconciliation Directives
Procedural Enforcement of Budget Reconciliation Timing
The Budget Act includes a budget process timetable stating that Congress is to complete action on
reconciliation legislation on or before June 15.34 There is no corresponding enforcement
mechanism, however, for ensuring that reconciliation legislation be completed by that date, and
Congress has instead followed a timetable established by the committee due dates in
reconciliation directives in the budget resolution. Another provision in the Budget Act, prohibits
House consideration of any resolution providing for adjournment of more than three days during
the month of July if the House has not completed action on any required reconciliation
legislation.35
30 However, Section 310(g) of the Budget Act prohibits inclusion of changes to the old age, survivors, and disability
insurance program established under Title II of the Social Security Act.
31 In the Senate, the Presiding Officer advised that reconciliation directives may not specify that the reporting
committee achieve such budgetary goals in specific ways. (See Congressional Record (daily ed.), vol. 128, May 19,
1982, p. S5506.)
32H.Con.Res. 83 (107th Congress).
33 S.Con.Res. 13 (111th Congress).
34 Section 300 of the Budget Act. It does not speak to when committees should respond to reconciliation directives.
35 Section 310(f) of the Budget Act.
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There is no procedural mechanism, such as a point of order, for enforcing the date specified in the
reconciliation directive as it appears in the budget resolution. Committees sometimes have
reported reconciliation legislation in response to their directives after the date specified in the
directive with no impact on whether the resultant legislation was considered as reconciliation
legislation. In other words, the late response of one or more committees did not cause the bill to
lose its privileged status as a reconciliation bill.
In the case of omnibus reconciliation measures, the House and Senate Budget Committees have at
times delayed reporting a bill until tardy committee submissions were received.
In the Event that a Committee Does Not Respond to a
Reconciliation Directive
In some years, committees have not formally responded to the reconciliation directive instructing
them to report legislation. There may be several reasons for the lack of a formal committee
submission. For instance, there may have been a shift in policy priorities and Congress no longer
desired to pass reconciliation legislation. It could also be that a committee fails to approve
reconciliation language36 or it may be that although committees did not respond formally to the
directive, they reported freestanding legislation that was not considered under reconciliation
procedures but that may have satisfied the goal of the reconciliation directive.
As explained above, there is no procedural mechanism for requiring a committee to report
reconciliation legislation on time, or at all. Each chamber, however, may employ methods of
moving forward with reconciliation legislation, and to include legislative language that falls
within the non-reporting committee’s jurisdiction, in the event that the committee has not yet
reported. These methods vary by chamber.
House of Representatives
In the House, if a committee has not responded to a reconciliation directive, it still may be
possible to consider reconciliation legislation on the House floor that would satisfy the
committee’s directive. In the case of omnibus reconciliation legislation, the Budget Act states that
the House Rules Committee may make in order amendments to a reconciliation bill to satisfy
reconciliation directives if a committee has not submitted reconciliation legislation to the House
Budget Committee.37
Senate
In the Senate, if a committee has not responded to a reconciliation directive, it still may be
possible to consider reconciliation legislation on the Senate floor that would satisfy the
committee’s directive. This would be in order on the floor in the form of a motion to recommit
the bill to that committee with instructions that it report the measure back to the Senate forthwith
36 In 1995 the House Agriculture Committee became deadlocked and was unable to adopt a recommendation.
37 Section 310(d)(5) of the Budget Act. For more information on special rules and the amending process, see CRS
Report 98-612, Special Rules and Options for Regulating the Amending Process, by Megan Suzanne Lynch.
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with an amendment.38 Unlike amendments to the reconciliation bill, the motion to recommit
would not have to be germane if it were made in this situation. Such a motion to recommit would
allow any Senator to craft legislative language within the directed committee’s jurisdiction on the
floor.
Author Contact Information
Megan Suzanne Lynch
Analyst on Congress and the Legislative Process
mlynch@crs.loc.gov, 7-7853
38 If adopted, a motion to recommit sends the bill to a specified committee. It may be offered with or without
instructions, and instructions typically direct a committee to amend a bill in a specific way. Motions to recommit with
instructions that the committee report back to the Senate “forthwith,” if successful, means that the amendments would
then be considered immediately on the Senate floor and the measure would not need to wait for committee action.
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