Changes to House Rules Affecting the Congressional Budget Process Included in H.Res. 8 (117th Congress)

January 21, 2021 R46659

Changes to House Rules Affecting the
January 21, 2021
Congressional Budget Process Included in
Megan S. Lynch
H.Res. 8 (117th Congress)
Specialist on Congress and
the Legislative Process
At the beginning of each Congress, the House of Representatives adopts rules to govern its

proceedings. Traditionally, the House does this by readopting the rules of the previous Congress
James V. Saturno
along with changes that will apply in the new Congress. On January 4, 2021, the House
Specialist on Congress and
considered and adopted a resolution (H.Res. 8) providing for the rules of the House for the 117th
the Legislative Process
Congress by a vote of 217-206. H.Res. 8 reinstitutes the standing rules of the 116th Congress with

certain amendments and adopts other procedural and organizational matters that are not
incorporated into the standing rules directly but are designated as Separate Orders.

This report addresses several of these provisions that affect the congressional budget process and the consideration of
budgetary legislation. It provides information on one change to the standing rules that might affect the consideration of
reconciliation legislation in the House of Representatives. It also addresses two provisions of H.Res. 8 included under
Separate Orders. The first of these provides a continuing effect to budgetary enforcement levels established in the 116th
Congress. The second authorizes the chair of the House Committee on the Budget to adjust budget estimates used for
enforcement procedures in the House in order to exempt the budgetary effects of measures to prevent, prepare for, or respond
to economic or public health consequences resulting from the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic or to
prevent, prepare for, or respond to economic, environmental, or public health consequences resulting from climate change.
Finally, this report includes information on a provision of H.Res. 8 extending the life of the House Select Committee on the
Modernization of Congress.
Congressional Research Service

Changes to House Rules Affecting the Congressional Budget Process Included in H.Res. 8

At the beginning of each Congress, the House of Representatives adopts rules to govern its
proceedings. Traditional y, the House does this by readopting the rules of the previous Congress
along with changes that wil apply in the new Congress. These rules and changes may be
incorporated into the standing rules of the House directly, or they may be adopted as Separate
Orders. In both cases, they establish procedural and organizational parameters for the House for
the new Congress. On January 4, 2021, the House considered and adopted a resolution (H.Res. 8)
providing for the rules of the House for the 117th Congress by a vote of 217-206. H.Res. 8
reinstitutes the standing rules of the 116th Congress with certain amendments and also adopts
additional provisions as separate orders.
This report addresses several of these provisions, adopted both as part of the standing rules of the
House and as separate orders, that affect the congressional budget process and the consideration
of budgetary legislation. In some cases, these provisions are similar to provisions adopted in
previous Congresses. This report also provides information on a provision extending the life of
the House Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress, which may have an impact on
House consideration of budget process reform issues.
Removing a Restriction on Reconciliation Directives
H.Res. 8 did not provide for the continued adoption of the language that had previously been
clause 7 of Rule XXI concerning restrictions on reconciliation directives. This clause had been
included in House rules in several forms beginning in the 110th Congress (2007-2009). In the
116th Congress this clause provided:
It shall not be in order to consider a concurrent resolution on the budget, or an amendment
thereto, or a conference report thereon that contains reconciliation directives under section
310 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 that specify changes in law such that the
reconciliation legislation reported pursuant to such directives would cause an increase in
net direct spending (as such term is defined in clause 10) for the period covered by such
concurrent resolution.
Extending the Procedural Budgetary Levels Established for FY2021
As has been typical practice, the rules package for the 117th Congress carries forward the
procedural budgetary levels established in the prior year.
The House and Senate establish spending and revenue levels that act as an overal congressional
budget plan by adopting a budget resolution. Once agreed to by both chambers, the levels in a
budget resolution may be enforced by points of order. When the House and Senate do not reach
agreement on a budget resolution, the chambers typical y employ alternative legislative tools to
serve as a substitute for a budget resolution. These substitutes are typical y referred to as
“deeming resolutions,” because they are deemed to serve in place of an annual budget resolution
for the purposes of establishing enforceable budgetary levels for the upcoming fiscal year. As in
many years, in 2020 such a mechanism was in effect for FY2021 (i.e., the fiscal year that began
on October 1, 2020).1

1 T itle II of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2019 (P.L. 116-37) directed the House and Senate Budget Committee chairs to
file statements of budgetary levels, which would have the same effect in the respective chamber as if the y had been
included in a budget resolution. T he act requires that (1) for discretionary spending, the filed levels be consistent with
the statutory limits on discretionary spending (as amended by the act), and (2) for mandatory spending and revenue
levels, the filed levels be consistent with the most recent baseline projections made by th e Congressional Budget
Office. Pursuant to the act, on May 1, 2020, House Budget Committee Chair Yarmuth filed such levels. ( Congressional
Congressional Research Service

1

Changes to House Rules Affecting the Congressional Budget Process Included in H.Res. 8

When a new Congress begins, the prior year’s budget (or deeming) resolution is no longer in
effect in the House. The House, therefore, typical y renews a prior year’s budget (or deeming)
resolution as part of the new rules package.2 H.Res. 8, under Separate Orders, in Section 3(p)
includes such language, stating that during the first session of the 117th Congress, the levels and
al ocations in effect in 2020 for FY2021 shal continue to be in effect. Nothing in this provision
precludes Congress from considering a budget resolution for FY2021 or any other fiscal year.
Adjusting Budgetary Estimates
Subsection (v) of Section 3 (Separate Orders) of H.Res. 8 provides:
The chair of the Committee on the Budget may adjust an estimate under clause 4 of rule
XXIX to—
(1) exempt the budgetary effects of measures to prevent, prepare for, or respond to
economic or public health consequences resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic; and
(2) exempt the budgetary effects of measures to prevent, prepare for, or respond to
economic, environmental, or public health consequences resulting from climate change.
Section 312(a) of the Congressional Budget Act provides that enforcement of budgetary
requirements be “determined on the basis of estimates made by the Committee on the Budget of
the House of Representatives or the Senate, as applicable.” As adopted for the 117th Congress,
clause 4 of Rule XXIX further establishes that the chair of the Committee on the Budget may
provide authoritative guidance on budget estimates on behalf of the Committee on the Budget.
Subsection (v) modifies this authority to provide that the chair of the Committee on the Budget
may adjust an estimate to exclude the budgetary effects of measures that address specified policy
issues, effectively exempting such measures from budget enforcement procedures in the House,
such as House Rule XXI, clause 10. Because this separate order is a part of a resolution
concerning only the actions and operations of the House, however, it would have no impact on
any estimates used for the enforcement of any statutory budgetary requirements. For example, it
would not exempt the full budgetary impact of such a measure from the requirements of the
Statutory PAYGO Act of 2010,3 because that enforcement is based on estimates prepared by the
Office of Management and Budget rather than the Committee on the Budget.
Extending the House Select Committee on the Modernization of
Congress
Section 4(e) of the rules package for the 117th Congress reestablished the House Select
Committee on the Modernization of Congress, which was established in the 116th Congress and
directed “to investigate, study, make findings, hold public hearings, and develop
recommendations on modernizing Congress.”4

Record [daily edition], pp. H1968-H1969.) As required, those levels were updated to reflect revised budgetary levels on
July 22, 2020 (Congressional Record [daily edition], p. H3691), and December 21, 2020 (Congressional Record [daily
edition], p. H7320).
2 For example, see H.Res. 6 (116th Congress), Section 103(m).
3 P.L. 111-139. For more information, see CRS Report R41157, The Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010: Summary
and Legislative History, by Bill Heniff Jr.
4 H.Res. 6 (116th Congress), T itle II. For more information on the House Select Committee on the Modernization of
Congress, see CRS Report R45724, House Select Com m ittee on the Modernization of Congress: Structure and
Procedures, by Ida A. Brudnick and Mark J. Oleszek.
Congressional Research Service

2

Changes to House Rules Affecting the Congressional Budget Process Included in H.Res. 8

House rules specify that the Budget Committee has jurisdiction over the budget process
general y,5 but the House has sometimes permitted select committees to make recommendations
related to the budget process.6 During the 116th Congress, the House Select Committee on the
Modernization of Congress held hearings and issued recommendations related to the
congressional budget process.7 Committee recommendations included that Congress hold an
annual Fiscal State of the Nation discussion, that Congress replace its annual budget resolution
with a biennial budget resolution (while maintaining annual appropriations bil s), and that the
President submit supplemental budget information earlier in the budget cycle.8 While such
recommendations have not yet been adopted or implemented, the Select Committee during the
117th Congress may continue to examine and make recommendations on the budget process.

Author Information

Megan S. Lynch
James V. Saturno
Specialist on Congress and the Legislative Process
Specialist on Congress and the Legislative Process

Disclaimer
This document was prepared by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). CRS serves as nonpartisan
shared staff to congressional committees and Members of Congress. It operates solely at the behest of and
under the direction of Congress. Information in a CRS Report should n ot be relied upon for purposes other
than public understanding of information that has been provided by CRS to Members of Congress in
connection with CRS’s institutional role. CRS Reports, as a work of the United States Government, are not
subject to copyright protection in the United States. Any CRS Report may be reproduced and distributed in
its entirety without permission from CRS. However, as a CRS Report may include copyrighted images or
material from a third party, you may need to obtain the permission of the copyright holder if you wish to
copy or otherwise use copyrighted material.

5 Rule X, clause 1(e)(2). T his provision was added to House rules in the 104th Congress (1995-1996). Budget process
reform measures or budget resolutions may include provisions that have an impact on House rules, jurisdiction over
which is under the Rules Committee. Section 301(c) of the Congressional Budget Act , as amended in 1985, specifically
provides that a budget resolution reported from the Budget Committee that includes any matter or procedure that would
change any rule of the House would trigger a referral to the House Rules Committee . T his language was added by the
Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (P.L. 99-177, T itle II) to clarify that jurisdiction over the
rules of the House rested solely with the Rules Committee.
6 For example, in the 115th Congress, Congress established a Joint Select Committee on Budget and Appropriations
Reform. For more information, see CRS Report R45111, The Joint Select Com m ittee on Budget and Ap propriations
Process Reform , by Megan S. Lynch and James V. Saturno .
7 See Chapters 10 and 11 of https://modernizecongress.house.gov/imo/media/doc/
ModernizationCommittee_10152020r1Compressed%20 (newest%20gpo%20report).pdf.
8 Ibid., Chapter 11.
Congressional Research Service
R46659 · VERSION 1 · NEW
3

Download PDF

Download EPUB

Revision History

Jan. 21, 2021

HTML · PDF

Metadata

Topic areas

Legislative Process

Report Type: CRS Report

Source: CRSReports.Congress.gov

Raw Metadata: JSON