Changes in the House of Representatives’ Initial Consideration of Regular Appropriations Measures, 113th-116th Congresses

Changes in the House of Representatives’ Initial Consideration of Regular Appropriations Measures, 113th-116th Congresses

Changes in the House of Representatives’
July 15, 2021
Initial Consideration of Regular Appropriations Kevin P. McNellis
Measures, 113th-116th Congresses
Analyst on Congress and
the Legislative Process
Article I, Section 9, of the Constitution gives Congress the “power of the purse” by requiring that

funds may only be drawn from the Treasury “in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law.”
The Constitution also provides in Article I, Section 5, that “Each House may determine the Rules

of its Proceedings.” As a result, the ways in which Congress organizes its committee and floor
processes to consider appropriations measures are subject to change and adaptation. The House of Representatives currently
organizes itself to develop 12 regular annual appropriations bills. These bills provide the funding for a wide variety of the
federal government’s activities, including the operations of nearly all of the executive branch’s agencies and departments.
These bills are typically developed by the House Committee on Appropriations and are then debated and amended by the
entire House. During the 113th, 114th, 115th, and 116th Congresses (yielding regular appropriations for FY2014-FY2021), each
of the regular appropriations bills considered on the House floor was considered under the terms of a special rule. A special
rule is a resolution developed and reported by the House Committee on Rules that, once adopted by the entire House,
establishes the procedures under which a measure will be considered on the floor, including the degree to which Members
may debate and amend the legislation.
This report examines changes in the terms under which the regular appropriations bills were brought up and considered on
the House floor over the course of the 113th, 114th, 115th, and 116th Congresses. During this period, majorities from both
parties adjusted the practices used to manage the initial floor consideration of regular appropriations bills. The long -standing
historical practice of the House was to consider the majority of regular appropriations bills separately under the terms of open
rules that did not impose prior constraints on the ability of Members to debate and offer amendments under the “five -minute
rule.” Beginning in the 113th Congress, and to an increasing degree in the 114th-116th Congresses, the House used modified-
open and structured special rules to impose more limits on the ability of Members to offer amendments and participate in
floor debate. Additionally, a practice was developed in which the text of multiple regular appropriations bills were combined
into single legislative meas ures (commonly referred to as “minibus” bills) to functionally provide for simultaneous
consideration of multiple appropriations bills rather than serial, separate consideration.
This report summarizes and explains these changes in procedural practices and uses data from Congress.gov and the
Committee on Rules to analyze how these changes affected the House’s initial consideration of regular appropriation bills
during the 113th-116th Congresses. It includes summaries of the types of special rules used to co nsider appropriations
measures and analyzes the number and disposition of amendments that were offered to regular appropriations bills during
their initial floor consideration.

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Contents
Introduction ................................................................................................................... 4
Special Rules and Floor Consideration of Regular Appropriations Since the 113th
Congress ..................................................................................................................... 4
The Increased Use of “Controlled Time” During Floor Debate and Limiting Pro
Forma Amendments ................................................................................................ 8
Committee Prints and “Minibus” Appropriations Measures ............................................ 10
Changes in Amending Practices....................................................................................... 12
“Plus-Minus” Amendments ....................................................................................... 18
En Bloc Consideration and Disposition of Amendments ................................................ 19

Tables
Table 1. Abbreviations of House Appropriations Subcommittees and Regular
Appropriations Acts ...................................................................................................... 5
Table 2. Special Rules Used for the Initial Consideration of Regular Appropriations Bil s,
FY2014-FY2021 .......................................................................................................... 6
Table 3. Number of Amendments Offered to and Made in Order for the Consideration of
Regular Appropriations Bills, FY2014-FY2021............................................................... 14
Table 4. Disposition of Amendments For Regular Appropriations Bil s Considered by the
House by Type of Special Rule, FY2014-FY2021 ........................................................... 15

Table A-1. Summary of Appropriations Vehicles and Special Rules Used for the Initial
House Consideration of Regular Appropriations, FY2014-FY2021 .................................... 22
Table B-1. Detail on Regular Appropriations Measures Made in Order by Rules
Committee, 115th and 116th Congresses .......................................................................... 28

Appendixes
Appendix A. Summary of Special Rules Governing the Initial Consideration of Regular
Appropriations ........................................................................................................... 21
Appendix B. Detail of Minibus Measures Considered During the 115th and 116th
Congresses ................................................................................................................ 27

Contacts
Author Information ....................................................................................................... 32

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Introduction
The House of Representatives’ procedures and practices related to the consideration of regular
appropriations bil s have evolved over the last several decades. These changes have affected both
the terms under which the House brings appropriations bil s to the floor for plenary consideration
and the ability of Members to debate and offer amendments to them. This report examines several
changes that occurred over the period of the 113th-116th Congresses (2013-2021).1 This report
only examines initial consideration of regular appropriations bil s, which, for purposes of this
analysis, is defined as when a regular appropriations bil was first considered by the House. It
does not address the consideration of measures providing supplemental or continuing
appropriations.2
This report is organized into two sections. The first explains changes in the form and content of
the special rules that governed the initial floor consideration of regular appropriations bil s. This
section focuses on (1) the greater use of “control ed time” during the consideration of
amendments and new limits on offering of pro forma amendments and (2) the practice of
combining the text of multiple regular appropriations bil s into a single measure for their
simultaneous initial consideration (often referred to as “minibus” measures). The second section
of the report provides details about changes concerning the consideration of amendments to
regular appropriations measures and data on their disposition.
Special Rules and Floor Consideration of Regular
Appropriations Since the 113th Congress
Congress is organized to develop and consider 12 regular appropriations measures each year that
provide funding for a wide variety of the federal government’s activities, including the operations
of nearly al of the executive branch’s agencies and departments. Each of the 12 regular
appropriations measures corresponds to the jurisdiction of one of the House and Senate
appropriations committees’ 12 subcommittees.3 Table 1 lists the full titles of the House
Appropriations Committee’s subcommittees, as wel as the abbreviated titles that are used
throughout this report to refer to the regular appropriations acts within their jurisdiction.

1 For an analysis of earlier trends in House consideration of regular appropriations, see CRS Report RS22711,
Considering Regular Appropriations Bills on the House Floor: Current Practice Regarding Com prehensive
Unanim ous Consent Agreem ents; and CRS Report R42933, Regular Appropriations Bills: Term s of Initial
Consideration and Am endm ent in the House, FY1996 -FY2015.
2 Supplemental appropriations are an action by Congress to either increase funding for programs for which
appropriations have previously been provided or provide funding for unforeseen needs. Continuing appropriations
measures, commonly known as “ continuing resolutions,” are typically used to provide interim funding for agencies and
programs if regular appropriations bills have not been enacted and can also provide funding for an entire fiscal year.
For more information, see CRS Report R42388, The Congressional Appropriations Process: An Introduction .
3 For more information about the development of the subcommittees of the House and Senate Appropriations
Committees, see CRS Report RL31572, Appropriations Subcommittee Structure: History of Changes from 1920 to
2021.
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Table 1. Abbreviations of House Appropriations Subcommittees and Regular
Appropriations Acts
Full Title of House Appropriations Committee’s Subcommittees
Abbreviated Title
Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related
Agriculture
Agencies
Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies
Commerce-Justice-Science
Defense
Defense
Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies
Energy-Water
Financial Services and General Government
Financial Services
Homeland Security
Homeland Security
Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies
Interior-Environment
Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies
Labor-HHS-Education
Legislative Branch
Legislative Branch
Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies
Military Construction-
Veterans Affairs
State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs
State-Foreign Operations
Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies
Transportation-HUD
Source: Subcommittee titles taken from the House Committee on Appropriations’ website. See
https://appropriations.house.gov/subcommittees.
Although there are several procedures under which the House may consider regular
appropriations measures, since the 113th Congress the House has used special rules exclusively.
Special rules are House resolutions developed and reported by the House Committee on Rules
that, if approved by a majority of Members, establish the terms and conditions for floor
consideration. Through the use of special rules, the House can waive certain rules, set limits for
debate, and establish terms for offering or considering amendments.4
During the 113th-116th Congresses (January 3, 2013, to January 3, 2021), the House considered 36
measures containing the text of 64 regular appropriations bil s across eight annual appropriations
cycles (FY2014-FY2021).5 Eight of these measures contained the text of multiple regular
appropriations bil s and are discussed in greater detail in the “Committee Prints and “Minibus”
Appropriations Measures” section below. As had been the practice for many years, al of these
measures were considered under the terms of a special rule, but the form and content of these
special rules evolved over the course of this period. In the 113th and 114th Congresses, the
majority of appropriations measures were considered under special rules categorized by the Rules
Committee as open and modified-open, which place no additional prior restrictions on the number
or content of amendments that Members can offer beyond those included in the House’s standing

4 For more on special rules, see CRS Report 98-354, How Special Rules Regulate Calling up Measures for
Consideration in the House; and CRS Report 98-612, Special Rules and Options for Regulating the Am ending Process.
5 Six of the FY2019 regular appropriations bills that were initially considered by the House were excluded from this
analysis, however, because they were considered under anomalous circumstances during an extended lapse in federal
funding in January 2019. T he text of these six bills were first considered by the House as a minibus measure, H.R. 21,
under the terms of H.Res. 5, which did not provide any opportunities to amend the measure. A second minibus
measure, H.R. 648, containing the text of the same appropriations bills, was considered under the terms of H.Res. 61,
which also did not provide any opportunities to amend the measure.
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rules.6 During the 115th and 116th Congresses, the House exclusively used structured rules, which
specify which amendments are in order for floor consideration, to govern the consideration of
regular appropriations measures.7
Table 2 shows the number of regular appropriations measures that were brought up for initial
consideration by the House between 2013 and 2020, as wel as the type of special rules under
which those measures were considered. The table shows the House increasingly used modified-
open and structured special rules to set the terms and conditions of the initial consideration of
regular appropriations measures during this period. During the 114th Congress, the House began
to use modified-open rules regularly. For FY2016 the House considered six of seven
appropriations measures brought to the floor under modified open rules. For FY2017 the House
considered four of the six appropriations measures brought to the House floor under structured
rules. Since the start of the 115th Congress, the House has exclusively used structured rules to set
the terms and conditions of the consideration of regular appropriations measures. The shift to
structured rules, as wel as the use of minibus measures, corresponded with the House considering
a greater number of regular appropriations bil s. In the 113th and 114th Congresses, the House
considered a total of 26 regular appropriations bil s out of a possible maximum of 48 such bills.
During the 115th and 116th Congresses, the House considered a total of 38 regular appropriations
bil s out of a possible maximum of 48 such bil s.
Table 2. Special Rules Used for the Initial Consideration of Regular Appropriations
Bills, FY2014-FY2021
Cong.
FY
Number of Regular
Number of Minibus
Type of Special Rule
Appropriations
Measures (Number of
Bills Receiving
Regular Appropriations
Open
Modifie
Structure
Initial Floor
Acts included in Minibus
d-Open
d
Consideration
Measures)a
113th
2014
5
0
4
0
1
113th
2015
8
0
3
4
1
114th
2016
7
0
0
6
1
114th
2017
6
0
0
2
4b
115th
2018
12
2 (12)c
0
0
12
115th
2019
6
2 (5)d,e
0
0
6
116th
2020
10
2 (9)f
0
0
10
116th
2021
10
2 (10)g
0
0
10
Source: Prepared by CRS using data obtained from Congress.gov, the Congressional Record, and the House
Committee on Rules’ website (available at house.rules.gov).

6 Modified-open rules may, for example, require that amendments be printed in the Congressional Record before floor
consideration, place a limit the total amount of time that a bill can be amended or considered, or place a limit on the
time each individual amendment may be considered. See CRS Report 98-354, How Special Rules Regulate Calling up
Measures for Consideration in the House; CRS Report 98-612, Special Rules and Options for Regulating the Am ending
Process; and CRS Report 98-313, House Rules Com m ittee Hearings on Special Rules.
7 Structured rules may also specify the order in which amendments may be offered or provide other restrictions or
waivers.
All of the designations of special rules in this report are based on the Rules Committee’s categorization of those rules.
For more information, see the committee’s Survey and Journals of Activities, which can be accessed at
https://rules.house.gov/rules-and-resources/surveys-and-journals-activities.
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Notes: Open rules place no additional restrictions on the number or content of amendments that may be offered
beyond the applicable standing rules of the House and other rulemaking requirements such as those established
in the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 (P.L. 93-344).
Modified-open rules, like open rules, place no additional restrictions on the number or content of amendments
that may be offered but typical y require that amendments be pre-printed in the Congressional Record before a
measure’s floor consideration. They may also impose an overal time limit on debate.
Structured rules limit amendments that may be offered to those that are made in order by the Rules Committee.
Closed rules do not permit any amendments to be offered. No closed rules were used to govern the
consideration of regular appropriations measures during the 113th-116th Congresses.
a. As used in this report, the term minibus measures refers to legislative vehicles used for initial consideration
that contain the text of multiple regular appropriations bil s.
b. The FY2017 Defense appropriations bil (H.R. 5293) was initial y considered under a special rule that
provided only for a period of general debate but had no provisions concerning the amendment process
(H.Res. 778). A subsequent structured rule was adopted to establish the terms for considering amendments
(H.Res. 783). Because the measure was amended pursuant to a second structured rule, the bil is included in
the structured rule total for FY2017.
c. The two minibus measures considered during the FY2018 appropriations cycle were H.R. 3219 and H.R.
3354. For more information about these measures, see Table B-1.
d. The two minibus measures considered during the FY2019 appropriations cycle were H.R. 5895 and H.R.
6147. For more information about these measures, see Table B-1.
e. These totals does not include H.R. 21 or H.R. 648, as these measures were considered under anomalous
circumstances during a lapse of federal funding in January 2019.
f.
The two minibus measures considered during the FY2020 appropriations cycle were H.R. 2740 and H.R.
3055. For more information about these measures, see Table B-1.
g. The two minibus measures considered during the FY2021 appropriations cycle were H.R. 7608 and H.R.
7617. For more information about these measures, see Table B-1.
In addition to the transition from open to modified-open to structured rules, several other aspects
of the House’s use of special rules for the initial consideration of regular appropriations measures
changed during the 113th-116th Congresses. These changes include:
 an increased use of special rules that provided for “controlled time” during the
consideration of amendments and limited the use of pro forma amendments8;
 combining the text of multiple regular appropriations bil s in single “minibus”
measures to provide for their simultaneous consideration; and
 simultaneously considering groups of amendments and disposing of them “en
bloc,” that is, packaged together as one amendment for the purpose of debate and
voting.9

8 Pro forma amendments are a parliamentary formality that are used in order to gain recognition to speak during debate
and do not propose to modify the text of a measure or a pending amendment . In the typical form of the amendment,
Members will offer a pro forma amendment that proposes to “strike the last word” or “the requisite number of words”
to a pending first - or second-degree amendment or the underlying measure. For a discussion of pro form a amendments
and the amendment process in the House generally, see CRS Report 98-995, The Am ending Process in the House of
Representatives.
9 T his latter practice is discussed in the “En Bloc Consideration and Disposition of Amendments” section at the end of
this report .
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The Increased Use of “Controlled Time” During Floor Debate and
Limiting Pro Forma Amendments
Two of the primary functions of special rules are to establish the terms and conditions for offering
and debating amendments during a measure’s floor consideration. The specific provisions of a
special rule can affect the House’s consideration of a bil along three principal dimensions:
 the number of amendments—if any—that can be offered from the floor,
 the degree to which the underlying bil (and any amendments thereto) may be
amended,10 and
 how the time available for debate is al ocated to and controlled by Members.
Beginning in the 113th Congress, the House began to use new forms of modified-open rules as
wel as structured rules, each providing for “controlled time” during the consideration of
amendments to regular appropriations bil s and new restrictions on the degree to which Members
could offer pro forma amendments. The use of these new forms of special rules imposed more
structure and predictability on the House’s consideration of regular appropriations bil s by
imposing new restrictions on Members’ ability to offer amendments and participate in floor
debate.
Special rules typical y provide that bil s, including regular appropriations bil s, wil be considered
in two distinct stages, and the time available for debate in each stage is al ocated differently. First,
special rules routinely provide for an initial period of general debate on a bil , and such debate is
conducted using “control ed time” in which blocks of time are al ocated to and controlled by
majority and minority managers.11 Following general debate, special rules (except for closed
rules) provide for the consideration of amendments to the bil . Under the rules of the House,
appropriations measures are considered by the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the
Union (commonly referred to as the Committee of the Whole).12 The default procedure for the
Committee of the Whole is to consider amendments to regular appropriations bil s under what is
known as the “five-minute rule.” Under this practice, the Member offering an amendment may be
recognized to speak for a period of five minutes. After the Member has used this time (or yielded
it back) another Member may be recognized to speak in opposition for an additional five minutes.
Time al ocated this way may not be reserved or yielded in blocks to another Member, although
under an open rule additional Members may subsequently be recognized for five minutes to offer
pro forma amendments.13 Under these terms and conditions, it is possible for any Member to offer

10 T he rules of the House allow up to two degrees of amendments. First -degree amendments propose to modify the text
of the measure under consideration. Second-degree amendments propose to modify the text of a pending amendment.
For more information about the House’s amending process, see CRS Report 98-995, The Amending Process in the
House of Representatives.
11 Controlled time is also used by the House when considering legislation under the one-hour rule or under suspension
of the rules. For more on House consideration of legislation generally, see CRS Report 95-563, The Legislative Process
on the House Floor: An Introduction.
12 T he Committee of the Whole is a parliamentary device used primarily to consider amendments to legislation, through
which the House operates as a committee on which every member of the House serves. In response to the COVID -19
pandemic, the House adopted H.Res. 965, which provided for remote proxy voting. Such votes are allowed only in the
House and not in the Committee of the Whole. For more information, see page 22 of H.Rept. 116-420. Consequently,
the consideration of appropriations measures following the adoption of H.Res. 965 occurred in the House rather than
the Committee of the Whole.
13 Second-degree amendments (i.e., amendments offered to a pending amendment) are also permitted under the terms
of an open rule and may be permitted under the terms of a modified-open rule, although that is rare.
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a germane amendment or pro forma amendment during the amending of a bil , which makes the
course of a bil ’s amending open-ended and determined, in large part, by what amendments
Members choose to offer from the floor. Second-degree and substitute amendments may also be
proposed, and each would be subject to debate under the five-minute rule.
The concept of controlled time can be extended to the consideration of amendments, however, by
modified-open or structured special rules. These rules may specify that each amendment may be
debated for a specified number of minutes—typical y a total of no more than 10 minutes—with
time equal y divided and controlled by a proponent and an opponent. Such rules may also either
limit or prohibit the offering of pro forma amendments and second-degree amendments. In
current practice, these limits on debate time and the offering of pro forma amendments have been
included in rules categorized by the Rules Committee as both modified-open and structured
special rules (for more information see Table A-1).14
Using controlled time and restricting pro forma amendments limits the total possible time for
consideration of amendments and helps reduce the uncertainty of the amending process. Unlike
the debate of amendments under the five-minute rule, which can be extended by any Member
offering a pro forma amendment, the rules providing for controlled time during the consideration
of amendments also restrict the use of pro forma amendments to extend debate on particular
amendments. During the period under analysis, these rules either prohibited the offering of pro
forma amendments entirely or al ocated a specified number that could be offered only by the
Appropriations Committee’s chair or ranking minority member (or their respective designees).15
The shift to controlled time with additional limits on pro forma amendments may provide greater
certainty with respect to the duration of amending and considering regular appropriations bil s. In
prior periods, a modified-open rule al owed Members to offer and consider any amendment so
long as it was pre-published in the Congressional Record or the House’s initial consideration of a
bil remained under an overal time limit. These new forms of modified-open rules stil permitted
any proper amendment to be proposed but limited debate on each amendment to 10 minutes,
limited pro forma amendments, and in most cases also eliminated second-degree amendments.
These changes, however, may also significantly curtail the ability of Members to debate the
measure at length.
The transition from the five-minute rule to controlled time for debating amendments for regular
appropriations bil s began during the second session of the 113th Congress (2013-2014). The first
modified-open rule that provided for controlled time during the consideration of amendments and
limited pro forma amendments was H.Res. 616, which governed the consideration for the
FY2014 Agriculture regular appropriations bil . Compared to an open rule, this new form of
modified-open rule provided more certainty about how long any particular amendment could be
debated while preserving the prerogative of Members to offer amendments from the floor. The
three remaining regular appropriations bil s considered by the House during that session of
Congress were also considered and amended under modified-open special rules that provided for
controlled time during the consideration of amendments and limited pro forma amendments.16

14 Both of these forms of special rules provide for controlled time during the consideration of amendments. T he
primary distinction between these forms of modified-open rules and structured rules is that the former allows any
Members to offer germane amendments during floor consideration, while the latter only allows amendments made in
order by the special rule itself to be offered.
15 For a discussion of this practice, see Megan S. Lynch and Mark J. Oleszek, “Recent Innovations in Special Rules in
the House of Representatives,” in U.S. Senate, Committee on Rules and Administration, The Evolving Congress, S.Prt.
113-30 (Washington: GPO, 2014) pp. 254 -256.
16 T hose bills (and the special rules that governed their consideration) were H.R. 4870 (H.Res. 628), H.R. 4923 (H.Res.
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The use of this new form of modified-open rule remained popular during the first session of the
114th Congress but was discontinued in the second session in favor of structured rules. During the
first session of the 114th Congress, six of the seven FY2016 regular appropriations bil s were
considered by the House under modified-open special rules that provided for controlled time and
limited the use of pro forma amendments.17 During the second session of 114th Congress, the first
two FY2017 regular appropriations bil s were considered under the same form of modified-open
special rule.18 After the FY2017 Energy-Water Development regular appropriations bil (H.R.
5055, H.Res. 743) failed to pass the House on a recorded vote, the remaining FY2017 regular
appropriations bil s were considered under the terms of structured rules.19 These structured rules
also provided for controlled time during debate on amendments and either limited or prohibited
the offering of pro forma amendments. Because structured rules prevent Members from offering
amendments from the floor that have not been made in order by the rule, they reduce the
possibility of a particular Member offering a potential y disruptive amendment. This enhanced
protection against contentious amendments is accomplished by the House agreeing to special
rules that restrict the prerogative of Members under the standing rules of the House to offer
germane amendments during the floor consideration of appropriations measures.
The use of these new forms of special rules are a significant aspect of the House’s changing
consideration of the regular appropriations bil s over the 113th-116th Congresses. As the debates
over amendments to regular appropriations bil s became more contentious, majorities responded
by imposing new limits on floor debates via new forms of special rules.20 These changes have, in
part, al owed the House to bring more regular appropriations bil s to the floor for initial
consideration during the 115th and 116th Congresses by limiting the ability of Members to offer
substantive and pro forma amendments.
Committee Prints and “Minibus” Appropriations Measures
In addition to setting the terms and conditions of offering and debating amendments, a special
rule also specifies the legislative text to be considered by the House in one of several ways. The
rule can specify the legislative language considered on the House floor by referring to a specific
measure as introduced, as reported by committee, or as modified by legislative language that

641), and H.R. 5016 (H.Res. 661).
17 T he FY2016 Legislative Branch (H.R. 2250) appropriations bill was considered under a structured rule (H.Res. 271).
It has been the long-standing practice of the House to consider each year’s Legislative Branch regular appropriations
bill under the terms of a structured rule.
18 T hose bills were the FY2017 Military Construction-Veterans Affairs regular appropriations bill (H.R. 4974, H.Res.
736) and the FY2017 Energy-Water regular appropriations bill (H.R. 5055, H.Res. 743).
19 For more information about the consideration of these bills, see Lee Drutman and Peter C. Hanson, “Does Regular
Order Produce a More Deliberative Congress? Evidence from the Annual Appropriations Process,” in Francis E. Lee
and Nolan McCarty, eds., Can Am erica Govern Itself? (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2019), pp. 164 -165.
H.R. 5055 was the only regular appropriations measure initially considered by the House during the 113 th-116th
Congresses that failed to pass on a recorded vote. T he House also did not finish its initial consideration of two other
regular appropriations bills—the FY2014 T ransportation-HUD regular appropriations bill (H.R. 2610) and the FY2015
Agriculture regular appropriations bill (H.R. 4800).
20 For more information about the FY2016 appropriations cycle, see Roll Call, “Confederate Flag Flap a Death Knell
for Appropriations Work,” July 10, 2015, https://www.rollcall.com/2015/07/10/confederate-flag-flap-a-death-knell-for-
appropriations-work/. For more information about the FY2017 appropriations cycle, see CQ Alm anac 2016, “ Military
Construction-VA: Drama Stalks Popular Milcon-VA Bill,” and “ Energy-Water Development: Energy-Water Bill
Stalled by Discord,” https://library.cqpress.com/cqalmanac/toc.php?mode=cqalmanac-topic&level=3&values=
Appropriations%7E2016.
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appears elsewhere. Recently, it has become increasingly common for the Rules Committee to
specify the text to be considered on the floor in the form of a Rules Committee print.21 In the
115th Congress (2017-2018), the House began to use this practice to provide for the consideration
of appropriations bil s and, in particular, to adapt it to combine the text of two or more separately
reported appropriations measures in order to consider the text of those measures simultaneously
on the House floor in one package. Such measures are often referred to as minibus appropriations
measures.22
The first such minibus measure in the period under analysis was constructed to provide for
simultaneous initial consideration of the text of four FY2018 regular appropriations bil s. The
special rule that governed consideration of this minibus measure (H.Res. 473) designated the text
of H.Prt. 115-30 as the text that would be considered by the House. That committee print included
the text of four regular appropriations bil s that had been reported by the House Appropriations
Committee.23 In that same session of Congress, the text of the eight remaining regular
appropriations bil s were also considered by the House as part of a minibus measure (H.R.
3354).24 As shown in Table B-1, in each subsequent appropriations cycle, minibus measures
containing the text of multiple regular appropriations bil s became the norm for the House’s
initial floor consideration of regular appropriations bil s.
Although this practice has been used to combine the text of multiple regular appropriations bil s
into a single measure, the text of each bil is stil treated as separate within the minibus measure.
Within the combined measure, the text of each regular appropriations bil is organized as a
separate division.25 Furthermore, the special rule providing for the consideration of the combined
measure makes in order only amendments that affect only a single division, which prohibits
amendments that would transfer funding between different divisions of the measure.26

21 For a discussion of this practice, see “Recent Innovations in Special Rules in the House of Representatives,” by
Megan S. Lynch and Mark J. Oleszek in U.S. Senate, Committee on Rules and Administration, The Evolving Congress,
S.Prt. 113-30 (Washington: GPO, 2014), pp. 251-254.
22 For purposes of this report, the term minibus refers to any measure that contained the text of multiple regular
appropriations bills for their initial consideration by the House. Although the combination of the text of multiple
appropriations measures into a consolidated or omnibus measure is not unusual, initial consideration has been through
separate measures. Omnibus combinations have occurred at a later stage in the legislative process when differences
between the House and Senate were being resolved. For more information on this practice, see CRS Report RL32473,
Om nibus Appropriations Acts: Overview of Recent Practices.
23 T he text of the committee print designated the Department of Defense appropriations bill ( H.R. 3219) as Division A,
the Legislative Branch appropriations bill as Division B, the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs appropriations
bill as Division C, and the Energy and Water Development appropriations bill as Division D. A second special rule,
H.Res. 478, subsequently added Department of Homeland Security Border Infrastructure Construction appropriations
as Division E.
24 H.Res. 500 provided for the consideration of H.R. 3354, the Interior-Environment regular appropriations bill, as
modified by Rules Committee prints 115-31 and 115-32 and a self-executing amendment contained in H.Rept. 115-
295. T he final amended text initially considered by the House included the text of the eight remaining appropriations
bills as well as the addition of the text of the four remaining regular appropriations bills contained in H.R. 3219, as
previously passed by the House.
25 Such bills also typically include language that states that unless expressly provided otherwise, any reference to “this
Act” or a “report accompanying this Act” be treated as applying only to that division. For example, see Sections 2 and
3 of H.R. 7608.
26 For example, see H.Rept. 116-459, which accompanied H.Res. 1060, the special rule providing for the consideration
of H.R. 7608.
T his practice also preserves the Section 302(b) allocations under the Congressional Budget Act and Impoundment
Control Act of 1974 (P.L. 93-344). T hese allocations create limits on the amount of budget authority that can be
provided by each regular appropriations bill. For more information, see CRS Report R42388, The Congressional
Appropriations Process: An Introduction.
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The frequent use of minibus measures during the 115th and 116th Congresses to combine the text
of multiple regular appropriations bil s for their initial floor consideration represents another
aspect of the House’s changing practices for considering regular appropriations. This change has
two principal implications for the House’s consideration of regular appropriations bil s. The use
of minibus measures requires Members to vote on the text of multiple regular appropriations bil s,
as compared to voting on each one individual y. By requiring Members to vote on the text of
multiple bil s together, the leadership of the House may be able to assemble majority coalitions
that may not otherwise be possible when voting separately on regular appropriations bil s. This
change augments the role of the Rules Committee in the appropriations process, because the
committee has the responsibility of combining the texts of multiple regular appropriations bil s in
a committee print and designating those prints as the legislative text in order for consideration.
Table B-1 displays more detail about the each of the regular appropriations bil s considered
during the 115th and 116th Congresses. The table shows:
 whether or not the text of a regular appropriations bil was considered as part of a
minibus measure,
 the special rule that governed the measure’s consideration,
 the Rules Committee prints that contained the legislative text made in order for
consideration, and
 information about the corresponding appropriations bil s reported by the House
Appropriations Committee (if applicable).
Changes in Amending Practices
In addition to changes in the way appropriations bil s are brought to the floor of the House for
consideration, there were also several notable changes in amending practices related to regular
appropriations bil s during the 113th-116th Congresses. These changes in practice are reflected in
Table 3 and Table 4, which show how many amendments were offered to each appropriations bil
as wel as more information about their disposition.
Table 3 shows the number of amendments that were offered to each regular appropriations bil
during the 113th-116th Congresses. The number of amendments offered are listed for every bil
that received initial consideration by the House, while the number of amendments made in order
are listed in parentheses for the applicable measures that were considered under the terms of a
structured rule. These counts of amendments were arrived at by compiling information about the
amendments made in order by the Rules Committee from the reports accompanying structured
rules and information about the amendments that were offered during each regular appropriations
measure’s initial floor consideration from Congress.gov.
The Defense and the Energy and Water Development bil s were the only regular appropriations
bil s considered in every session during the 113th-116th Congresses. The number of amendments
offered to the Defense bil during this period varied between a low of 37 (FY2019) and a high of
86 (FY2014). For the Energy and Water Development bil , the number of offered amendments
varied between 40 (FY2018) and 78 (FY2015). Other bil s, although not considered in every
session, show a similar range of variance. Despite this variation, the data also show which bil s
are general y subject to the most amending activity, from an average of seven amendments
offered during consideration of the Legislative Branch appropriations bil to an average of 79
amendments offered during consideration of the Interior-Environment appropriations bil .
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Table 4 shows the disposition of amendments that were made in order and offered during the
initial consideration of regular appropriations measures during this period. The table displays the
number of amendments considered under structured rules separately from those considered under
open and modified-open rules for FY2014-FY2017 in order to distinguish how many
amendments were specified as in order by structured rules prior to floor consideration. The sixth
column of the table first shows how many of those amendments received a vote, as wel as (in
parentheses) how many of those amendments were considered and disposed of en bloc. The
seventh and eighth columns display the number of amendments that were either agreed to or not
agreed to, and the ninth and 10th columns, respectively, show the number of amendments that
either were withdrawn or had a point of order sustained against them. Additional y, in 20 cases a
rollcal vote on an amendment was postponed pursuant to House Rule XVIII, clause 6, but the
House did not subsequently complete consideration of the amendment. No disposition of these
amendments is indicated in the table.27

27 For example, Amendment 437 to the FY2014 T ransportation-HUD appropriations bill (H.R. 2610, 113th Congress).
Congressional Record, daily edition (July 30, 2013), pp. H5160 -H5161. A recorded vote was postponed o n July 30,
2013, but the House rose that day without having completed consideration of the bill and did not subsequently resume
consideration of the bill.
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Table 3. Number of Amendments Offered to and Made in Order for the Consideration of Regular Appropriations Bills,
FY2014-FY2021
Appropriation
Number of Amendments Offered (Number of Amendments Made in Order)
Total
Total Bills
Average
s Bill
Offered
Initially
Amend.
113th Congress
114th Congress
115th Congress
116th Congress
Amend.,
Considere
Offered
FY2014-
d,
per Bill,
FY2014
FY2015
FY2016
FY2017
FY2018
FY2019
FY2020
FY2021
FY2021
FY2014-
FY2014-
FY021
FY2021a
Agriculture
N/A
19b,c
N/A
N/A
18 (20)
N/A
33 (35)
24 (24)
94
4
24
Commerce-
N/A
84d
87b
N/A
41 (50)
N/A
87 (90)
66 (67)
365
5
73
Justice-Science
Defense
86 (100)
80b
67b
72 (75)
48 (54)
37 (53)
53 (57)
83 (83)
526
8
66
Energy-Water
73d
78b
61b
68b,e
40 (46)
44 (50)
49 (51)
43 (43)
456
8
57
Financial
N/A
51b
N/A
61 (70)
28 (35)
16 (17)
43 (46)
24 (24)
223
6
37
Services
Homeland
45d
N/A
N/A
N/A
27 (29)
N/A
N/A
N/A
72
2
36
Security
Interior-
N/A
N/A
116 120 (131)
67 (80)
65 (70)
64 (69)
44 (45)
476
6
79
Environment
Labor-HHS-
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
50 (59)
N/A
71 (79)
92 (92)
213
3
71
Education
Legislative
N/A
8 (8)
3 (3)
10 (13)
10 (10)
5 (7)
N/A
N/A
36
5
7
Branch
Military-
20d
24d
43b
30b
13 (16)
20 (21)
33 (34)
27 (27)
210
8
26
Construction-
Veterans Affairs
State-Foreign
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
22 (28)
N/A
33 (35)
36 (36)
91
3
30
Operations
Transportation-
27d,c
68d
79b
N/A
38 (40)
N/A
58 (62)
31 (31)
301
6
50
HUD
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link to page 17
Total number of
251
412
456
361
402
187
524
470
3063
64
48
offered
amendments,
during a session
of Congress, by
fiscal year
Source: Prepared by CRS using data obtained from Congress.gov, the Congressional Record, and the House Committee on Rules’ website (available at house.rules.gov).
Notes: Numbers in parentheses are the number of amendments made in order by the Rules Committee prior to the consideration of measures pursuant to structured
rule.
Amendments disposed of via en bloc votes are counted as separate amendments.
Al regular appropriations bil s during this period were considered under structured rules except as noted.
Al regular appropriations bil s were passed by the House except as noted.
Al of the FY2018-FY2021 appropriations bil s were considered as separate divisions within minibus measures that combined the text of multiple regular appropriations
bil s (except for the FY2019 Defense and FY2020 Financial Services bil s).
The totals in this table do not include “self-executing” amendments that were agreed to when the House agreed to a special rule. The fol owing measures were modified
by self-executing amendments: H.R. 3219 (H.Res. 473, H.Res. 478), H.R. 3354 (H.Res. 500), H.R. 5895 (H.Res. 918, H.Res. 923), H.R. 6157 (H.Res. 961), H.R. 6147
(H.Res. 996), H.R. 2740 (H.Res. 431, H.Res. 445), H.R. 3055 (H.Res. 445), H.R. 7608 (H.Res. 1060), H.R. 7617 (H.Res. 1067).
a. This column displays the average number of amendments per each type of regular appropriations bil (e.g., Agriculture, Commerce-Justice-Science, Defense, etc.).
The average is equal to the total number of amendments offered to that type of bil during the 113th-116th Congresses divided by the total number of regular
appropriations bil s of the same type initial y considered by the House during the 113th-116th Congresses rounded to the nearest whole number.
b. Regular appropriations bil considered under a modified-open rule.
c. House did not complete initial consideration of regular appropriations bil , leaving it as unfinished business.
d. Regular appropriations bil considered under an open rule.
e. House did not pass this regular appropriations bil (H.R. 5055, H.Res. 743).
Table 4. Disposition of Amendments For Regular Appropriations Bills Considered by the House by Type of Special Rule,
FY2014-FY2021
Cong.
FY
Type of Special
Amend. Made in
Amendments
Amend. Receiving a
Disposition of Offered Amendments
Rule
Order by Special
Offered
Vote (Disposed of En
Agre
Not
Withdra
Point of
Rulea
Bloc)
ed To
Agreed
wn
Order
To
Sustained
113th
2014
Open and Modified-
N/A
165
147 (3)
83
64
6
7
Open
113th
2014
Structured
100
86
80 (19)
57
23
6
0
CRS-15

113th
2014
Total
100
251
227 (22)
140
87
12
7
113th
2015
Open and Modified-
N/A
404
331 (0)
235
96
37
36
Open
113th
2015
Structured
13
8
8 (0)
4
4
0
0
113th
2015
Total
13
412
339 (0)
239
100
37
36
114th
2016
Open and Modified-
N/A
453
357 (0)
239
118
59
22
Open
114th
2016
Structured
3
3
3 (0)
2
1
0
0
114th
2016
Total
3
456
360 (0)
241
119
59
22
114th
2017
Open and Modified-
N/A
98
83 (0)
52
31
10
5
Open
114th
2017
Structured
290
263
255 (66)
161
94
8
0
114th
2017
Total
290
361
338 (66)
213
125
18
5
115th
2018
Structured
468
402
385 (182)
289
96
17
0
115th
2018
Total
468
402
385 (182)
289
96
17
0
115th
2019
Structured
218
187
174 (0)
136
38
13
0
115th
2019
Total
218
187
174 (0)
136
38
13
0
116th
2020
Structured
557
524
513 (303)
465
48
11
0
116th
2020
Total
557
524
513 (303)
465
48
11
0
116th
2021
Structured
472
470
470 (455)
420
50
0
0

116th
2021
Total
470
470 (455)
420
50
0
0
Source: Prepared by CRS using data obtained from Congress.gov, the Congressional Record, and the House Committee on Rules’ website (available at house.rules.gov).
Notes: The consideration of five amendments offered during the FY2014 appropriations cycle and 15 amendments offered during the FY20 16 appropriations cycle were
postponed pursuant to House Rule XVIII, clause 6. The House did not complete the consideration of these amendments, and they are included in the total number of
amendments offered during floor consideration.
Amendments considered en bloc and disposed of via a single vote are counted as separate amendments.
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The totals in this table do not include “self-executing” amendments that were agreed to when the House agreed to a special rule. The fol owing measures were modified
by self-executing amendments: H.R. 3219 (H.Res. 473, H.Res. 478), H.R. 3354 (H.Res. 500), H.R. 5895 (H.Res. 918, H.Res. 923), H.R. 6157 (H.Res. 961), H.R. 6147
(H.Res. 996), H.R. 2740 (H.Res. 431, H.Res. 445), H.R. 3055 (H.Res. 445), H.R. 7608 (H.Res. 1060), H.R. 7617 (H.Res. 1067).
Open rules place no additional restrictions on the number or content of amendments that may be offered beyond the applicable standing rules of the House and other
rulemaking requirements such as those established in the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 (P.L. 93-344).
Modified-open rules, like open rules, place no additional restrictions on the number or content of amendments that may be offered but typical y require that amendments
be pre-printed in the Congressional Record before a measure’s floor consideration. They may also impose an overal time limit on the debate of a measure or each
amendment offered to the bil .
Structured rules limit amendments that may be offered to those that are made in order by the special rule reported by the Rules Committee and adopted by the House.
a. The totals in this column are the number of amendments that were made in order by structured rules.
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Changes in the House’s Initial Consideration of Regular Appropriations Measures

“Plus-Minus” Amendments
One type of amendment to appropriations bil s that Members have used increasingly in recent
years is referred to as a “plus-minus” amendment. These amendments propose to both increase
and decrease the level of budget authority in the same appropriations account by the same dollar
amount. The typical form of a plus-minus amendment is to insert two parenthetical phrases after a
dollar amount in an appropriations bil , with one phrase specifying an increase and the other
phrase specifying an offsetting decrease (or vice versa) to a specific dollar amount of budget
authority. The following amendment to the Department of Energy’s Departmental Administration
account, offered during the initial consideration of the FY2017 Energy-Water appropriations bil
(H.R. 5055), is an il ustrative example of a plus-minus amendment’s typical form:
Page 50, line 21, after the dollar amount, insert ‘(reduced by $1,000,000) (increased by
$1,000,000).’28
Although the text of plus-minus amendments has no net impact on the level of funding made
available—and does not impose any new statutory requirements—the use of the plus-minus form
of amendment al ows Members to signal congressional interest in how agencies may choose to
al ot appropriated funds through their floor remarks rather than by establishing any statutory
requirement.29
One procedural advantage derived from plus-minus amendments is that they may al ow Members
to express their preferences for how an agency should prioritize the obligation of a specific
appropriation without violating House Rule XXI, clause 2. That clause imposes several
restrictions on the content of appropriations bil s and any amendments offered to them, including
a requirement that limits appropriations to purposes previously authorized by law and a
prohibition against including legislative language in appropriations bil s. Because plus-minus
amendments propose only to insert a parenthetical increase and decrease of a dollar amount, they
do not have any language that would be prohibited by this rule and therefore would not be subject
to a point of order if offered.30
Plus-minus amendments are typical y not included in the final version of the bil as enacted into
law.31 By raising a particular issue on the floor via a plus-minus amendment, however, a Member
can explain how that issue is affecting his or her constituents, offer comments on a particular
aspect of the appropriations measure, and advocate for specific policy alternatives. These remarks

28 See Rep. Keith Ellison, “Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2017,” House
debate, Congressional Record, daily edition, vol. 162, part 82 (May 24, 2016), p. H3080.
29 For example, in remarks made after offering such an amendment , one Representative explained that his specific
intent for offering the amendment was to express his interest in how the National Nuclear Security Administration
should spend $1 million to submit two reports to Congress. Remarks of Rep. John Garamendi, “ Energy and Water
Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2014,” Congressional Record, daily edition, vol. 159, part 97
(July 9, 2013), p. H4302.
30 In addition, because there is no net budgetary effect, plus-minus amendments would also not be subject to points of
order under Sections 302(f)(1), 302(f)(2)(A), 311(a)(1), or 314(f) of t he Congressional Budget and Impoundment
Control Act of 1974 (P.L. 93-344).
31 In the cases where a House-passed appropriations bill has contained parenthetical phrases inserted by plus-minus
amendments, those parenthetical phrases have typically been removed in the final text of the appropriations measures
as enacted into law. For example, the amended version of the FY2017 Energy and Water Development bill that was
engrossed in the House contained numerous parenthetical phrases that had been inserted by plus-minus amendments.
(For one such example, see page 135 of H.R. 5895 as engrossed by the House at https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-
congress/house-bill/5895/text/eh.) T hese parenthetical phrases had been removed in the final version of the bill. (See
pages 147-148 at https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/5895/text/eas.)
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can, in turn, have an informal influence on the final outcome of the appropriation process or
agency actions when executing the budget in much the same way that the directives included in
the Appropriations Committee reports that accompany regular appropriations bil s (i.e.,
“committee report language”) can affect the use of appropriations following enactment.32
Plus-minus amendments became increasingly common during the 113th-116th Congresses.
Whereas between 5% and 10% of the amendments offered to regular appropriations measures in
the 113th and 114th Congresses were plus-minus amendments, 19% of offered amendments to
regular appropriations bil s in the 115th Congress and 32% of those offered during the 116th
Congress were plus-minus amendments.
En Bloc Consideration and Disposition of Amendments
The en bloc consideration and disposition of amendments—where multiple amendments are
offered together in order to be considered simultaneously and disposed of with a single vote—can
occur either by unanimous consent or when authorized by a special rule. A special rule that
authorizes the chair of the committee to group together amendments in order to dispose of them
simultaneously has been referred to by the Rules Committee as a “Chair’s En Bloc Authority
Rule.”33 This type of special rule also typical y specifies a separate amount of controlled time,
equal y divided between the majority and minority floor managers, to debate those amendments
that the majority floor manager (or his or her designee) chooses to group together for
consideration en bloc. Under the typical practice, an amendment’s sponsor must agree to the en
block consideration of their amendment and is also al owed to insert a statement about the
amendment into the Congressional Record immediately before the amendment is voted on.34
When used in the context of appropriations bil s, special rules that provide en bloc authority al ow
the floor manager to have an additional tool to manage debate on amendments, particularly with
respect to amendments that do not increase budget authority or outlays in the bil .35
Between the 104th Congress (FY1996-FY1997) and the 112th Congress (FY2012-FY2013), the
Chair’s En Bloc Authority rules were used primarily to set the terms of consideration for the
National Defense Authorization Act and other measures related to national security that receive a
large number of amendments during their floor consideration.36 This type of special rule was not,
however, used to consider any regular appropriations bil s during that period.
The first instance of the chair of the Appropriations Committee being given en bloc amendment
authority in a special rule was H.Res. 312 (113th Congress, first session), which provided for
consideration of the FY2014 Department of Defense Appropriations Act (H.R. 2397). The
procedure was not used again for an appropriations measure until the FY2017 appropriations
cycle (114th Congress, 2nd session), when it was used in the consideration of three measures.37 It

32 For more information about those forms of directives, see CRS Report R44124, Appropriations Report Language:
Overview of Developm ent, Com ponents, and Issues for Congress.
33 For a description of the typical form of this type of rule, see U.S. Congress, House Committee on Rules, Survey of
Activities of the House Com m ittee on Rules 116th Congress, 116th Cong., 2nd sess., January 2, 2021, H.Rept. 106-722
(Washington: GPO, 2021), p. 30.
34 Ibid.
35 Ibid.
36 Committee on Rules’ Surveys of Activities for the 104th-112th Congresses.
37 H.Res. 783 for consideration of the Department of Defense Appropriations Act (H.R. 5293), H.Res. 794 for
consideration of the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act (H.R. 5485), and H.Res. 820 for
the consideration of the Department of Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act (H.R. 5538).
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was used at least once during each subsequent appropriations cycle during the 115th and 116th
Congresses.
The en bloc consideration and disposition of amendments to regular appropriations bil s increased
substantial y during the 113th-116th Congresses. During the 113th Congress, 3% of the
amendments offered to regular appropriations bil s were disposed of via en bloc votes, and that
percentage increased to 8% during the 114th Congress. During the 115th Congress, 31% of the
amendments offered to regular appropriations bil s were disposed of via en bloc votes, and that
percentage increased to 76% in the 116th Congress. One factor that may have contributed to the
sharp increase in en bloc consideration is a change in House floor procedure during the second
session of the 116th Congress in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifical y, the House
began al owing Members to remotely cast floor votes by proxy.38 The use of remote proxy voting
during floor consideration increased the amount of time required for floor votes, which likely
contributed to an increased use of en bloc authority on al types of legislation during this period.

38 For more information see CRS Insight IN11372, The Prior Practice of Proxy Voting in House Committee. In
addition, regular appropriations measures have been con sidered in the House rather than the Committee of the Whole
following the authorization of remote proxy voting under H.Res. 965, because remote proxy voting is not allowed in
the Committee of the Whole. For more information, see page 22 of H.Rept. 116-420.
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Appendix A. Summary of Special Rules Governing
the Initial Consideration of Regular Appropriations
Table A-1 shows more detailed information about each of the 36 measures that were used to
consider the 64 regular appropriations bil s during the 113th-116th Congresses, including the
legislative vehicle’s bil number, the regular appropriations bil s contained in the measure, the
special rule that governed the measure’s consideration, and the Rules Committee report that
accompanied the special rule. This table also provides data on three different changes in prac tice
that are discussed in this report:
 Whether a Rules Committee Print was applicable to a measure’s initial
consideration and, if so, the print number;39
 Whether the rule provided for amending under the “five-minute rule” or
“controlled time;”40 and
 Whether the rule authorized the en bloc consideration and disposition of
amendments.41

39 Special rules designate the legislative text to be considered by the House, and multiple typ es of legislative documents
can be designated for that purpose, such as a bill, as introduced, or a bill as reported by a committee. In more recent
practice, the Rules Committee has designated the text of a Rules Committee print as the legislative text int ended to be
the focus of debate and amendment. For more information, see the “ Committee Prints and “Minibus” Appropriations
Measures” section above and CRS Report R44362, Post-Com m ittee Adjustm ent in the Modern House: The Use of
Rules Com m ittee Prints.
40 Under the standing rules of the House, appropriations measures are considered by the Committee of the Whole on the
State of the Union (commonly referred to as the Committee of the Whole). When the House has resolved into the
Committee of the Whole, the default procedure is for amendments to be debated under the “ five-minute rule.” Under
that procedure, total debate time is not controlled and a Member offering an amendment is recognized to speak for five
minutes. Under the terms of a special rule, this can be modified to provide that time for debate on amendments be
allocated as “ controlled time,” that is, specific Members are recognized to control a specific amount of debate time,
which they may use or yield to colleagues as they wish. For more information about how these modifications have
affected the initial consideration of regular appropriations measures, see “ T he Increased Use of “ Controlled T ime”
During Floor Debate and Limiting Pro Forma Amendments” section above. For more information about House
procedure generally, see CRS Report 95-563, The Legislative Process on the House Floor: An Introduction .
41 T he House can consider multiple amendments simultaneously and dispose of them with a single vot e, a practice
known as offering amendments en bloc. T he House may agree to do so by either a special rule or unanimous consent.
See “En Bloc Consideration and Disposition of Amendments” section below for more information.
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Table A-1. Summary of Appropriations Vehicles and Special Rules Used for the Initial House Consideration of Regular
Appropriations, FY2014-FY2021
Con
FY
H.R.
Regular Appropriations Bil(s)
Special Rule
Rules Committee
Type of
Five-Minute
En Bloc
g.
(Committee
Print
Special
Rule or
Consideration
Report)
Rule
Controlled
of
Timea
Amendmentsb
113th 2014
H.R. 2216 Military Construction-Veterans
H.Res. 243, §1
N/A
Open
Five-Minute
No
Affairs
(H.Rept. 113-95)
Rule
113th 2014
H.R. 2217 Homeland Security
H.Res. 243, §2
N/A
Open
Five-Minute
No
(H.Rept. 113-95)
Rule
113th 2014
H.R. 2609 Energy-Water
H.Res. 288, §1
N/A
Open
Five-Minute
No
(H.Rept. 113-144)
Rule
113th 2014
H.R. 2397 Defense
H.Res. 312, §§1-5
N/A
Structured
Control ed
Yes
(H.Rept. 113-170)
Time
113th 2014
H.R. 2610 Transportation-HUD
H.Res. 312, §6
N/A
Open
Five-Minute
No
(H.Rept. 113-170)
Rule
113th 2015
H.R. 4486 Military Construction-Veterans
H.Res. 557, §1
N/A
Open
Five-Minute
No
Affairs
(H.Rept. 113-426)
Rule
113th 2015
H.R. 4487 Legislative Branch
H.Res. 557, §2
N/A
Structured
Control ed
No
(H.Rept. 113-426)
Time
113th 2015
H.R. 4660 Commerce-Justice-Science
H.Res. 585, §1
N/A
Open
Five-Minute
No
(H.Rept. 113-455)
Rule
113th 2015
H.R. 4745 Transportation-HUD
H.Res. 604, §1
N/A
Open
Five-Minute
No
(H.Rept. 113-465)
Rule
113th 2015
H.R. 4800 Agriculture
H.Res. 616, §1
N/A
Modified-
Control ed
No
(H.Rept. 113-472)
Open
Time
113th 2015
H.R. 4870 Defense
H.Res. 628, §1
N/A
Modified-
Control ed
No
(H.Rept. 113-475)
Open
Time
113th 2015
H.R. 4923 Energy-Water
H.Res. 641, §2
N/A
Modified-
Control ed
No
(H.Rept. 113-493)
Open
Time
CRS-22

link to page 26
113th 2015
H.R. 5016 Financial Services
H.Res. 661, §1
N/A
Modified-
Control ed
No
(H.Rept. 113-517)
Open
Time
114th 2016
H.R. 2028 Energy-Water
H.Res. 223, §§1-3
N/A
Modified-
Control ed
No
(H.Rept. 114-94)
Open
Time
114th 2016
H.R. 2029 Military Construction-Veterans
H.Res. 223, §§1-3
N/A
Modified-
Control ed
No
Affairs
(H.Rept. 114-94)
Open
Time
114th 2016
H.R. 2250 Legislative Branch
H.Res. 271, §2
N/A
Structured
Control ed
No
(H.Rept. 114-120)
Time
114th 2016
H.R. 2577 Transportation-HUD
H.Res. 287, §§1-2
N/A
Modified-
Control ed
No
(H.Rept. 114-135)
Open
Time
114th 2016
H.R. 2578 Commerce-Justice-Science
H.Res. 287, §§1-2
N/A
Modified-
Control ed
No
(H.Rept. 114-135)
Open
Time
114th 2016
H.R. 2685 Defense
H.Res. 303, §1
N/A
Modified-
Control ed
No
(H.Rept. 114-145)
Open
Time
114th 2016
H.R. 2822 Interior-Environment
H.Res. 333, §1
N/A
Modified-
Control ed
No
(H.Rept. 114-177)
Open
Time
114th 2017
H.R. 4974 Military Construction-Veterans
H.Res. 736, §§1, 3-5
N/A
Modified-
Control ed
No
Affairs
(H.Rept. 114-572)
Open
Time
114th 2017
H.R. 5055 Energy-Water
H.Res. 743, §§1-3
N/A
Modified-
Control ed
No
(H.Rept. 114-591)
Open
Time
114th 2017
H.R. 5325 Legislative Branch
H.Res. 771, §§1-2
N/A
Structured
Control ed
No
(H.Rept. 114-611)
Time
114th 2017
H.R. 5293 Defense
H.Res. 783, §§1-5
N/A
Structured
Control ed
Yes
(H.Rept. 114-623)
Time
114th 2017
H.R. 5293 Defense
H.Res. 778, §§2-5
N/A
N/Ac
Control ed
No
(H.Rept. 114-621)
Time
114th 2017
H.R. 5485 Financial Services
H.Res. 794, §§1-7
N/A
Structured
Control ed
Yes
(H.Rept. 114-639)
Time
114th 2017
H.R. 5538 Interior-Environment
H.Res. 820, §§1-7
N/A
Structured
Control ed
Yes
(H.Rept. 114-683)
Time
CRS-23

115th 2018
H.R. 3219 Defense, Military Construction-
H.Res. 473, §§1-6
H.Prt. 115-30
Structured
Control ed
Yes
Veterans Affairs, Legislative
(H.Rept. 115-259)
Time
Branch, and Energy-Water
115th 2018
H.R. 3219 Defense, Military Construction-
H.Res. 478, §§1-4
H.Prt. 115-30
Structured
Control ed
Yes
Veterans Affairs, Legislative
(H.Rept. 115-261)
Time
Branch, and Energy-Water
115th 2018
H.R. 3354 Interior-Environment,
H.Res. 500, §§1-6
H.Prt. 115-31, as modified
Structured
Control ed
Yes
Agriculture, Financial Services,
(H.Rept. 115-295)
by H.Prt. 115-31 and the
Time
Homeland Security, Labor-HHS-
amendment in Part A of
Education, State-Foreign
H.Rept. 115-295
Operations, Transportation-
HUD, Military Construction-
Veterans Affairs, Legislative
Branch, Energy-Water
115th 2018
H.R. 3354 Interior-Environment,
H.Res. 504, §§1-4
H.Prt. 115-31, as modified
Structured
Control ed
Yes
Agriculture, Financial Services,
(H.Rept. 115-297)
by H.Prt. 115-31 and the
Time
Homeland Security, Labor-HHS-
amendment in Part A of
Education, State-Foreign
H.Rept. 115-295
Operations, Transportation-
HUD, Military Construction-
Veterans Affairs, Legislative
Branch, Energy-Water
115th 2019
H.R. 5895 Energy-Water, Legislative Branch, H.Res. 918, §§3-5
H.Prt. 115-71
Structured
Control ed
No
Military Construction- Veterans
(H.Rept. 115-711)
Time
Affairs
115th 2019
H.R. 5895 Energy-Water, Legislative Branch, H.Res. 923, §1
H.Prt. 115-71
Structured
Control ed
No
Military Construction- Veterans
(H.Rept. 115-712)
Time
Affairs
115th 2019
H.R. 6157 Defense
H.Res. 961, §§1, 3-4
H.Prt. 115-77
Structured
Control ed
No
(H.Rept. 115-783)
Time
CRS-24

115th 2019
H.R. 6157 Defense
H.Res. 964, §1
H.Prt. 115-77
Structured
Control ed
No
(H.Rept. 115-785)
Time
115th 2019
H.R. 6147 Interior-Environment, Financial
H.Res. 996, §§1-2
H.Prt. 115-81
Structured
Control ed
No
Services
(H.Rept. 115-830)
Time
116th 2020
H.R. 2740 Labor-HHS-Education, Defense,
H.Res. 431, §§1-6
H.Prt. 116-17, as modified
Structured
Control ed
Yes
State-Foreign Operations,
(H.Rept. 116-109)
by the amendment in Part
Time
Energy-Water
A of H.Rept. 116-109
116th 2020
H.R. 2740 Labor-HHS-Education, Defense,
H.Res. 436, §§1-4
H.Prt. 116-17, as modified
Structured
Control ed
Yes
State-Foreign Operations,
(H.Rept. 116-111)
by the amendment in Part
Time
Energy-Water
A of H.Rept. 116-109
116th 2020
H.R. 2740 Labor-HHS-Education, Defense,
H.Res. 445, §7
H.Prt. 116-17, as modified
Structured
Control ed
Yes
State-Foreign Operations,
(H.Rept. 116-119)
by the amendment in Part
Time
Energy-Water
A of H.Rept. 116-109, and
further modified by the
amendment in Part C of
H.Rept. 116-119
116th 2020
H.R. 3055 Commerce-Justice-Science,
H.Res. 445, §§1-6
H.Prt. 116-18, as modified
Structured
Control ed
Yes
Agriculture, Interior-
(H.Rept. 116-119)
by the amendment in Part
Time
Environment, Military
A in H.Rept. 116-119
Construction-Veterans Affairs,
Transportation-HUD
116th 2020
H.R. 3351 Financial Services
H.Res. 460, §§3-7
N/A
Structured
Control ed
Yes
(H.Rept. 116-126)
Time
116th 2021
H.R. 7608 State-Foreign Operations,
H.Res. 1060, §§1-5
H.Prt. 116-59
Structured
Control ed
Yes
Agriculture, Interior-
(H.Rept. 116-459)
Time
Environment, Military
Construction-Veterans Affairs
116th 2021
H.R. 7617 Defense, Commerce-Justice-
H.Res. 1067, §§1-5
H.Prt. 116-60, as modified
Structured
Control ed
Yes
Science, Energy-Water, Financial
(H.Rept. 116-461)
by the amendment in Part
Time
Services, Labor-HHS-Education,
A of H.Rept. 116-461
Transportation-HUD
Source: Prepared by CRS using data obtained from Congress.gov, the Congressional Record, and the House Committee on Rules’ website (available at house.rules.gov).
CRS-25

Notes: Open rules place no additional restrictions on the number or content of amendments that may be offered beyond the applicable standing rules of the House and
other rulemaking requirements such as those established in the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 (P.L. 93-344).
Modified-open rules, like open rules, place no additional restrictions on the number or content of amendments that may be offered but typical y require that amendments
be pre-printed in the Congressional Record before a measure’s floor consideration. They may also impose an overal time limit on debate.
Structured rules limit amendments that may be offered to those that are made in order by the special rule reported by the Rules Committee and adopted by the House.
a. Under the standing rules of the House, appropriations measures are considered by the Committee of the Whole on the State of the Union (commonly referred to
as the Committee of the Whole). When the House has resolved into the Committee of the Whole, the default procedure is for amendments to be debated under
the “five-minute rule.” Under that rule, total debate time is not control ed and a Member offering an amendment is recognized to speak for five minut es. Under a
special rule, this can be modified to provide that time for debate on amendments be al ocated as “control ed time.” For more on House procedure general y, see
CRS Report 95-563, The Legislative Process on the House Floor: An Introduction.
b. The House can dispose of multiple amendments simultaneously with a single vote, a practice known as en bloc voting. The House may agree to do so either by
unanimous consent or if authorized by a special rule.
c. H.Res. 778 provided for one hour of general debate on H.R. 5293 but did not provide for any further debate or amending of the measure.
CRS-26

link to page 28 Changes in the House’s Initial Consideration of Regular Appropriations Measures

Appendix B. Detail of Minibus Measures
Considered During the 115th and 116th Congresses
Table B-1 displays more detail about each of the regular appropriations bil s considered during
the 115th and 116th Congresses. The table shows whether or not the text of a regular
appropriations bil was considered as part of a minibus measure, as wel as the special rule that
governed the measure’s consideration, and the Rules Committee prints that contained the
legislative text made in order for consideration, as wel as information about the applicable
corresponding appropriations bil s reported by the House Appropriations Committee (if
applicable).

Congressional Research Service

27

link to page 31
Table B-1. Detail on Regular Appropriations Measures Made in Order by Rules Committee, 115th and 116th Congresses
Co
FY
Bill Number
Accompanying Special
Rules Committee Print
Corresponding Regular
Corresponding
ng.
(Minibus or Regular
Rule Number(s), and
Appropriations Bill
Committee-Reported
Appropriations
Section(s)
bill
Measure)
115
2018
H.R. 3219 (Minibus)
H.Res. 473, §§1-6, and H.Res.
H.Prt. 115-30, Division A
Defense
H.R. 3219
478, §§1-4
115
2018
H.R. 3219 (Minibus)
H.Res. 473, §§1-6, and H.Res.
H.Prt. 115-30, Division B
Legislative Branch
H.R. 3162
478, §§1-4
115
2018
H.R. 3219 (Minibus)
H.Res. 473, §§1-6, and H.Res.
H.Prt. 115-30, Division C
Military Construction-Veterans
H.R. 2988
478, §§1-4
Affairs
115
2018
H.R. 3219 (Minibus)
H.Res. 473, §§1-6, and H.Res.
H.Prt. 115-30, Division D
Energy-Water
H.R. 3266
478, §§1-4
115
2018
H.R. 3219 (Minibus)
H.Res. 500, §§1-6, and H.Res.
H.Prt. 115-31, Division A
Interior, Environment
H.R. 3354
504, §§1-4
115
2018
H.R. 3219 (Minibus)
H.Res. 500, §§1-6, and H.Res.
H.Prt. 115-31, Division B
Agriculture
H.R. 3268
504, §§1-4
115
2018
H.R. 3354 (Minibus)
H.Res. 500, §§1-6, and H.Res.
H.Prt. 115-31, Division C
Commerce-Justice,-Science
H.R. 3267
504, §§1-4
115
2018
H.R. 3354 (Minibus)
H.Res. 500, §§1-6, and H.Res.
H.Prt. 115-31, Division D
Financial Services
H.R. 3280
504, §§1-4
115
2018
H.R. 3354 (Minibus)
H.Res. 500, §§1-6, and H.Res.
H.Prt. 115-31, Division E
Homeland Security
H.R. 3355
504, §§1-4
115
2018
H.R. 3354 (Minibus)
H.Res. 500, §§1-6, and H.Res.
H.Prt. 115-31, Division F
Labor-HHS-Education
H.R. 3358
504, §§1-4
115
2018
H.R. 3354 (Minibus)
H.Res. 500, §§1-6, and H.Res.
H.Prt. 115-31, Division G
State-Foreign Operations
H.R. 3362
504, §§1-4
115
2018
H.R. 3354 (Minibus)
H.Res. 500, §§1-6, and H.Res.
H.Prt. 115-31, Division H
Transportation-HUD
H.R. 3353
504, §§1-4
115
2018
H.R. 3354 (Minibus)
H.Res. 500, §§1-6, and H.Res.
H.Prt. 115-32, Division I
Defense
H.R. 3219, as passed by the
504, §§1-4
Housea
CRS-28

link to page 31 link to page 31 link to page 31 link to page 31 link to page 31 link to page 31 link to page 31
115
2018
H.R. 3354 (Minibus)
H.Res. 500, §§1-6, and H.Res.
H.Prt. 115-32, Division J
Legislative Branch
H.R. 3219, as passed by the
504, §§1-4
Housea
115
2018
H.R. 3354 (Minibus)
H.Res. 500, §§1-6, and H.Res.
H.Prt. 115-32, Division K
Military Construction-Veterans
H.R. 3219, as passed by the
504, §§1-4
Affairs
Housea
115
2018
H.R. 3354 (Minibus)
H.Res. 500, §§1-6, and H.Res.
H.Prt. 115-32, Division L
Energy-Water
H.R. 3219, as passed by the
504, §§1-4
Housea
115
2018
H.R. 3354 (Minibus)
H.Res. 500, §§1-6, and H.Res.
H.Prt. 115-32, Division M
Department of Homeland
H.R. 3219, as passed by the
504, §§1-4
Security Border Infrastructure
Housea
Construction Appropriation
Act, 2018
115
2019
H.R. 5895 (Minibus)
H.Res. 918, §§3-5, and H.Res.
H.Prt. 115-71, Division A
Energy-Water
H.R. 5895
923, §1
115
2019
H.R. 5895 (Minibus)
H.Res. 918, §§3-5, and H.Res.
H.Prt. 115-71, Division B
Legislative Branch
H.R. 5894
923, §1
115
2019
H.R. 5895 (Minibus)
H.Res. 918, §§3-5, and H.Res.
H.Prt. 115-71, Division C
Military Construction-Veterans
H.R. 5786
923, §1
Affairs
115
2019
H.R. 6157 (Regular
H.Res. 961, §§1, 3-4, and
H.Prt. 115-77b
Defense
H.R. 6157b
appropriation)
H.Res. 964, §1
115
2019
H.R. 6147 (Minibus)
H.Res. 996, §§1-2
H.Prt. 115-81, Division A
Interior-Environment
H.R. 6147
115
2019
H.R. 6147 (Minibus)
H.Res. 996, §§1-2
H.Prt. 115-81, Division B
Financial Services
H.R. 6258
116
2020
H.R. 2740 (Minibus)
H.Res. 431, §1-6, H.Res. 436,
H.Prt. 116-17, Division A
Labor-HHS-Education
H.R. 2740
§§1-4, and H.Res. 445, §§1-5 &
7
116
2020
H.R. 2740 (Minibus)
H.Res. 431, §1-6, H.Res. 436,
H.Prt. 116-17, Division Bc
Legislative Branchc
H.R. 2779
§§1-4, and H.Res. 445, §§1-5 &
7
116
2020
H.R. 2740 (Minibus)
H.Res. 431, §§1-6, H.Res. 436, H.Prt. 116-17, Division C
Defense
H.R. 2968
§§1-4, and H.Res. 445, §§1-5 &
7
116
2020
H.R. 2740 (Minibus)
H.Res. 431, §§1-6, H.Res. 436, H.Prt. 116-17, Division D
State-Foreign Operations
H.R. 2839
§§1-4, and H.Res. 445, §§1-5 &
7
CRS-29

link to page 31 link to page 31 link to page 31
116
2020
H.R. 2740 (Minibus)
H.Res. 431, §§1-6, H.Res. 436, H.Prt. 116-17, Division E
Energy-Water
H.R. 2960
§§1-4, and H.Res. 445, §§1-5 &
7
116
2020
H.R. 3055 (Minibus)
H.Res. 445, §§1-6
H.Prt. 116-18, Division A
Commerce-Justice-Science
H.R. 3055
116
2020
H.R. 3055 (Minibus)
H.Res. 445, §§1-6
H.Prt. 116-18, Division B
Agriculture
H.R. 3164
116
2020
H.R. 3055 (Minibus)
H.Res. 445, §§1-6
H.Prt. 116-18, Division C
Interior-Environment
H.R. 3052
116
2020
H.R. 3055 (Minibus)
H.Res. 445, §§1-6
H.Prt. 116-18, Division D
Military Construction-Veterans
H.R. 2745
Affairs
116
2020
H.R. 3055 (Minibus)
H.Res. 445, §§1-6
H.Prt. 116-18, Division E
Transportation-HUD
H.R. 3163
116
2020
H.R. 3055 (Minibus)
H.Res. 445, §§1-6
H.Prt. 116-18, Division F
Fair Compensation for Low-
H.R. 678
Wage Contractor Employees
Act of 2019
116
2020
H.R. 3351 (Regular
H.Res. 460, §§3-7
N/Ad
Financial Services
N/Ad
appropriation)
116
2021
H.R. 7608 (Minibus)
H.Res. 1060, §§1-5
H.Prt. 116-59, Division A
State-Foreign Operations
H.R. 7608
116
2021
H.R. 7608 (Minibus)
H.Res. 1060, §§1-5
H.Prt. 116-59, Division B
Agriculture
H.R. 7610
116
2021
H.R. 7608 (Minibus)
H.Res. 1060, §§1-5
H.Prt. 116-59, Division C
Interior-Environment
H.R. 7612
116
2021
H.R. 7608 (Minibus)
H.Res. 1060, §§1-5
H.Prt. 116-59, Division D
Military Construction-Veterans
H.R. 7609
Affairs
116
2021
H.R. 7617 (Minibus)
H.Res. 1067, §§1-5
H.Prt. 116-60, Division A
Defense
H.R. 7617
116
2021
H.R. 7617 (Minibus)
H.Res. 1067, §§1-5
H.Prt. 116-60, Division B
Commerce-Justice-Science
H.R. 7667
116
2021
H.R. 7617 (Minibus)
H.Res. 1067, §§1-5
H.Prt. 116-60, Division C
Energy-Water
H.R. 7613
116
2021
H.R. 7617 (Minibus)
H.Res. 1067, §§1-5
H.Prt. 116-60, Division D
Financial Services
H.R. 7668
116
2021
H.R. 7617 (Minibus)
H.Res. 1067, §§1-5
H.Prt. 116-60, Division Ee
Homeland Security
H.R. 7669
116
2021
H.R. 7617 (Minibus)
H.Res. 1067, §§1-5
H.Prt. 116-60, Division F
Labor-HHS-Education
H.R. 7614
116
2021
H.R. 7617 (Minibus)
H.Res. 1067, §§1-5
H.Prt. 116-60, Division G
Transportation-HU
H.R. 7616
Source: Prepared by CRS using data obtained from Congress.gov, the Congressional Record, and the House Committee on Rules’ website (available at house.rules.gov).
Notes: “Self-executing” amendments are amendments that are agreed to without a separate vote on the House’s adoption of a special rule. Th e text of such
amendments are specified in the Rules Committee reports accompanying a special rule providing for self-executing amendments.
CRS-30

a. Rules Committee Print 115-32 superseded Rules Committee Print 115-31 by inserting the text of the appropriations measures contained within H.R. 3219, as
previously passed by the House, with technical and conforming changes.
b. The Rules Committee inserted the text of H.R. 6157 into Rules Committee Print 115-77 without any substantive revisions.
c. Division B of H.Prt. 116-17 was struck from the committee print before floor consideration by a self-executing amendment contained in Part A of H.Rept. 116-109.
d. H.R. 3351, as reported by the Appropriations Committee, was made in order as the base text for floor consideration.
e. Division E of Rules Committee Print 116-60 was stricken from the print before floor consideration via a self-executing amendment contained in Part A of H.Rept.
116-461 that accompanied H.Res. 1067, the rule that governed the floor consideration of H.R. 7617. Because it was not considered on the floor of the House, the
measure is not included in any of the other totals presented in the other tables included in this report.

CRS-31

Author Information

Kevin P. McNellis

Analyst on Congress and the Legislative Process

Acknowledgments
Owen Henry and Bil Heniff assisted in collecting and analyzing the amendment data
summarized in this report. Jim Saturno, Megan Lynch, Jessica Tollestrup, Chris Davis, Valerie
Heitshusen, and Michael Green provided helpful review and comments.

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.

Congressional Research Service
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