The Appropriations Process: A Brief Overview

May 17, 2022 – May 17, 2023 R47106

The Appropriations Process: A Brief Overview
May 17, 2023
The Constitution states that “No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of
Appropriations made by Law.” This means that the power of the purse must be exercised through
James V. Saturno
the lawmaking process, allowing Congress to craft the terms of appropriations or deny
Specialist on Congress and
appropriations outright through legislation. The Constitution does not, however, prescribe how
the Legislative Process
Congress should develop or consider appropriations measures. Consequently, the House and

Senate have each adopted rules and practices related to appropriations measures including
Megan S. Lynch
distinguishing them from other types of legislation.
Specialist on Congress and
the Legislative Process
Within the committee structure established by Congress, the task of developing appropriations

legislation is delegated to the Appropriations Committees of the House and Senate. These
committees, in turn, have created a system of subcommittees designed to facilitate their ability to

carry out these tasks. The committees are organized in 12 parallel subcommittees, each of which
is charged with developing, drafting, and managing the consideration of one regular appropriations act each fiscal year.
House and Senate rules restrict the content of appropriations bills so that they focus on questions related to funding. Unlike
other legislation, appropriations acts are organized as a series of mostly unnumbered paragraphs that provide budget
authority, which permits a federal agency to enter into financial agreements that will obligate the Treasury to make payments.
In addition to appropriations bills, the subcommittees draft written reports that accompany them and provide agencies with
more detailed information about congressional intent concerning how agencies should use appropriated funds.
Once appropriations bills are reported, they may be considered under the rules applicable to their respective chamber. In the
House, the practice in recent years has been to consider appropriations bills under the terms of a special rule reported from
the Rules Committee. In the Senate, appropriations bills enjoy no special privilege so that their consideration is in most
respects subject to the same rules for consideration as other legislation.
In addition to the development and consideration of regular appropriations bills, this report summarizes other forms of
appropriations measures commonly used by Congress. Continuing appropriations measures (also termed continuing
resolutions or CRs) provide temporary funding in the absence of regular appropriations. Supplemental appropriations provide
additional funding during the course of a fiscal year; in modern practice this is typically in response to urgent and
unanticipated needs such as natural disasters and urgent military operations.
Because provisions in appropriations bills are often influenced by decisions made through authorizing legislation and budget
resolutions, this report also briefly discusses these relationships.

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The Appropriations Process: A Brief Overview

Introduction
The Constitution states that “No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of
Appropriations made by Law.”1 This means that the power of the purse must be exercised through
the lawmaking process, allowing Congress to craft the terms of appropriations or deny
appropriations outright through legislation.2 The Constitution does not, however, prescribe how
Congress should develop or consider appropriations measures. Consequently, the House and
Senate have each developed their own rules and practices related to the development and
consideration of appropriations measures. This has allowed Congress to distinguish
appropriations measures from other legislation. This report provides an introduction to
congressional rules and practices, focused particularly on those that affect the annual
development and consideration of regular appropriations acts.
Appropriations Legislation
An appropriation may generally be described as a statutory provision that provides budget
authority, thus permitting a federal agency to enter into financial agreements that will obligate the
Treasury to make payments. The actual payments of these obligations are referred to as outlays,
and the rate at which budget authority becomes outlays in a fiscal year3 is called the spendout rate
or the outlay rate. The spendout rate can vary for different activities.
The appropriations process is characteristically annual. Although the Constitution does not
require annual appropriations, since the First Congress the practice has been to enact
appropriations that will be available for obligation during a single fiscal year. Appropriations acts
may, however, also provide multiyear budget authority that will be available for a designated
period longer than a single fiscal year or “no year” budget authority that will remain available
until expended.
Appropriations acts provide funding in definite dollar amounts for specific purposes over limited
periods of time. Once appropriations legislation has been enacted, the specified amounts,
purposes, and time periods included impose legal constraints on the subsequent use of
appropriated funds. Generally speaking, the executive branch is prohibited from (1) spending
more than is appropriated, (2) spending less than is appropriated, and (3) spending for purposes
other than those specified. For example, an agency or department cannot obligate funds in excess
of the amounts provided, or for other purposes, or during time periods that are not provided for in
law. Nor can they obligate funds in advance of an appropriation being provided by Congress or
refuse to obligate funds after an appropriation is enacted, except in some limited circumstances.
The form and organization of regular appropriations acts are unique. Unlike other forms of
legislation, regular appropriations acts are organized as a series of mostly unnumbered
paragraphs. Each paragraph is separated by a heading and generally corresponds to a unique
budgetary account that funds similar budgetary items, such as salaries and expenses or research
and development. Appropriations for larger agencies are typically organized in multiple accounts,
but smaller agencies may be funded via a single account. Each account is typically provided with
an overall “lump-sum” appropriation of a specified dollar amount of budget authority for all of
the items within the account. That amount may be further subdivided for specific items within the

1 U.S. Const. art. I, §9, cl. 7.
2 See CRS In Focus IF11577, Congress’s Power Over Appropriations: A Primer, by Sean M. Stiff.
3 The federal fiscal year runs from October 1 to September 30.
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The Appropriations Process: A Brief Overview

account, and most paragraphs also include provisos that specify additional terms and conditions
that apply to that account or to specific programs or activities within that account. A separate title
at the end of each act also includes a numbered list of general provisions, which are requirements
that apply to multiple accounts or all of the accounts in the act.
The Appropriations Committees
Within the committee structure established by Congress, the task of developing appropriations
legislation is delegated to the Appropriations Committees of the House and Senate. These
committees each have jurisdiction over measures that provide appropriations, rescind prior
appropriations, or transfer unobligated balances.4 The Appropriations Committees, in turn, have
organized a system of subcommittees designed to facilitate their ability to carry out these tasks.
Since the 110th Congress (2007), the House and Senate Appropriations Committees have been
organized in 12 subcommittees, with each subcommittee responsible for developing and
managing the consideration of one regular appropriations act.5
1. Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug
Administration, and Related Agencies;
2. Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies;
3. Subcommittee on Defense;
4. Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, and Related Agencies;
5. Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government;
6. Subcommittee on Homeland Security;
7. Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies;
8. Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related
Agencies;
9. Subcommittee on Legislative Branch;
10. Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies;
11. Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs;
12. Subcommittee on Transportation and Housing and Urban Development, and
Related Agencies.
Committee Action
During the initial stages of the annual appropriations process, each subcommittee will typically

4 The jurisdiction of the House Appropriations Committee is defined in House Rule X, clause 1(b); the jurisdiction of
the Senate Appropriations Committee is defined in Senate Rule XXV, paragraph 2(b).
5 In most respects, the House and Senate Appropriations Committees maintain parallel subcommittee jurisdictions. The
one salient exception is jurisdiction over funding for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). In the
House, funding for CFTC is included in the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and
Related Agencies Appropriations bill, while the Senate includes it in the Financial Services and General Government
Appropriations bill. Since 2007, the two chambers have alternated which of these two measures includes CFTC funding
when enacted. For more on the evolution of appropriations subcommittee jurisdiction, see CRS Report RL31572,
Appropriations Subcommittee Structure: History of Changes from 1920 to 2023, by James V. Saturno. For more
information about which agencies and departments are within each subcommittee’s jurisdiction, see CRS Report
R40858, Locate an Agency or Program Within Appropriations Bills, by Justin Murray.
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• analyze the President’s annual budget request and agency spending justifications
for the upcoming fiscal year;
• solicit the input of other Members who do not serve on the Appropriations
Committees; and
• draft and mark up regular appropriations bills (as well as draft a written report to
accompanying the bill).
Although a subcommittee may forgo hearings or markup in some cases, this would not prevent
subsequent consideration of an appropriations measure by either the full Appropriations
Committees or their respective chambers.
The subcommittees’ development of regular appropriations bills typically begins shortly after the
President submits an annual budget request to Congress, which is stated to occur in early
February.6 Shortly afterward, individual agencies and departments also submit detailed budget
justifications to the Appropriations Committees. These justification documents lay out in greater
detail the agency’s spending plans for the upcoming fiscal year as well as how the agencies used
their prior year’s appropriations.7 After the House and Senate Appropriations subcommittees have
an opportunity to analyze these justification documents, they typically hold hearings to solicit the
testimony of agency officials and question them about the agency’s budget request. During this
time, subcommittees typically collect input from Members of Congress who do not serve on the
Appropriations Committees.
How Members Can Influence Appropriations at the Committee Stage
As the House and Senate Appropriations Committees are developing appropriations legislation, they often provide
a formal mechanism for Members to communicate their preferences and offer input. The committees typically
invite congressional offices to submit requests to their respective Appropriations Committees through electronic
submission systems, available on each of the subcommittee’s websites.
While the types of formal requests that Members may submit to their respective Appropriations Committees are
determined by the committees and their subcommittees, three general types of requests have been permitted:
programmatic, language-based, and, more recently, Community Project Funding/Congressionally Directed
Spending Items.
Programmatic requests seek to express general support for funding a program or to request a specific amount of
funding for a specific program.
Language-based requests seek to add some type of language to either the appropriations bil or the appropriations
bil ’s accompanying committee report.
Community Project Funding requests (House) and Congressionally Directed Spending Items (Senate) seek to
direct funding within a specific program or account to a specified state, local government, or nonprofit recipient
and are subject to House and Senate earmark disclosure rules. For more, see CRS Report R46722, Community
Project Funding: House Rules and Committee Protocols, by Megan S. Lynch.
For more information on this and other means by which Members may have an impact on committee or floor
consideration of appropriations legislation, see CRS Report R47031, The House Appropriations Process: Opportunities
for Member Participation, by Megan S. Lynch.

6 The President is required to submit the budget request for the upcoming fiscal year by the first Monday in February
each calendar year (31 U.S.C. §1105), although the actual submission of the budget may sometimes be delayed. For
more information, see CRS Report R47019, The Executive Budget Process: An Overview, by Dominick A. Fiorentino
and Taylor N. Riccard.
7 P.L. 117-40 requires agencies to post these materials electronically on their websites. For more information about the
content of these documents, see CRS Report R47090, Executive Agency Justification of the President’s Budget: In
Brief, by Dominick A. Fiorentino.
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After conducting these hearings and receiving input from other Members, each subcommittee
drafts and marks up the regular bill under its jurisdiction. Regular appropriations bills are often
marked up by the subcommittees beginning in the spring. During these subcommittee markups,
the subcommittee’s chairperson usually provides a draft bill (known as the chair’s mark). The
chair and other subcommittee members then discuss and consider amendments to the draft bill.
After the subcommittee has considered any amendments, the subcommittee votes on whether to
forward the amended draft bill to the full committee.
The Appropriations Committees typically conduct their own markups of each bill, taking into
account the subcommittee’s recommendations as well as considering additional amendments from
members of the full committee. Following the consideration of any amendments, the committee
votes to report a bill for further consideration by the entire chamber. All bills reported in the
House are accompanied by written reports. Senate bills reported by the Appropriations
Committee are also usually accompanied by reports.
By long-standing practice, the Appropriations Committees use the written reports that accompany
bills to provide detailed information about congressional intent concerning how agencies should
use appropriated funds. Because the text of these reports is not included in the legislative text, it
does not establish a statutory requirement or obligation that the agency must follow. In some
instances, however, report language has been incorporated into the statutory text of appropriations
acts by reference and become a part of the law.8 Nevertheless, agencies tend to heed report
language, since it indicates congressional intent.
Because House rules allow the Appropriations Committee to report an original bill, an
appropriations bill is not formally introduced and assigned a bill number until the House
Appropriations Committee reports it.
Floor Consideration
While House and Senate practices for developing appropriations measures are similar, the manner
in which the two chambers consider legislation in plenary session has significant differences.
House Consideration
There are several procedures that the House may use to consider regular appropriations measures.
Since the 111th Congress, it has considered regular appropriations measures exclusively under the
terms of special rules (also known as special orders of business).9 These special rules are House
resolutions that are developed and reported by the Committee on Rules. Once approved by the
House, special rules can set the terms and conditions for debating and amending a measure on the
floor by temporarily augmenting, superseding, or waiving any otherwise applicable rules of the
House. As a consequence of their power and flexibility, the specific terms and conditions of
special rules are instrumental in determining how regular appropriations measures are considered
by the House.
Since the 115th Congress, the House has exclusively used structured special rules with several
common features to govern the initial floor consideration of regular appropriations measures.10

8 For more information, see CRS Report R44124, Appropriations Report Language: Overview of Development and
Components, by Drew C. Aherne.
9 For more on the consideration of legislation in the House generally, see CRS Report RS20067, How Measures Are
Brought to the House Floor: A Brief Introduction, by Christopher M. Davis.
10 Special rules are generally categorized by whether or how they limit the offering of floor amendments.
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First, they provide for an hour of general debate at the beginning of a measure’s consideration
that is equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking member of the Appropriations
Committee or their designees. During this time, either the chair or the ranking member may speak
on the measure or yield time to other Members of their respective caucus. Following the
conclusion of general debate, the bill is usually open for a period of amending. Under structured
rules, however, only the amendments designated in order by the Rules Committee can be offered,
and the time available to debate each amendment is limited (usually to 10 minutes) and controlled
by the Member offering the amendment and a single opponent.11
Members who wish to offer amendments to an appropriations measure considered under a
structured rule must submit their amendments to the Rules Committee for its consideration before
the special rule is reported by the committee. The Rules Committee announces submission
guidelines and deadlines in advance of any hearing to consider a structured rule. These
announcements are typically made via electronic “Dear Colleague” letters and posted on the
committee’s website.12 The Committee on Rules often notes that it does not intend to make in
order amendments that would require a waiver of either House rules or budget rules.13
Rules Committee guidelines generally require that proposed amendments
• be germane to the text of the underlying measure,
• provide funds only for activities previously authorized by law (except for public
works or other ongoing projects),
• do not impose new statutory duties on a department or agency,
• comply with spending limits imposed by the congressional budget process, and
• other requirements specified in the special rule.
When the Rules Committee reports a rule to the House, the written report that accompanies it
contains the text of the amendments designated in order under the rule.14
Since the 115th Congress, the House has frequently considered several appropriations measures
simultaneously. These measures are often referred to as “minibus”15 measures. These combined
measures are created under the terms of a special rule that provides for the text of multiple
appropriations bills to be combined in a committee print that can serve as the text made in order
for House consideration. Typically, the special rule provides that upon its adoption, the committee
print be considered as having been also adopted as an amendment in the nature of a substitute to
one of the regular bills.16 These minibus measures are usually formatted so that the text of the

11 For more information about how these rules affect the consideration of regular appropriations measures in the House,
congressional readers may contact the authors. See also CRS Report R46841, Changes in the House of Representatives’
Initial Consideration of Regular Appropriations Measures, 113th-116th Congresses, by Kevin P. McNellis.
12 https://rules.house.gov/.
13 For example, see U.S. Congress, House Committee on Rules, Amendment Process Announcement for H.R. 4373—
Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2022, 117th Cong., July 20, 2021,
https://rules.house.gov/news/announcement/amendment-process-announcement-hr-4373-department-state-foreign-
operations-and.
14 For example, see H.Rept. 117-109 that accompanied H.Res. 555. The report contained the amendments designated in
order during the consideration of H.R. 4502, a FY2022 appropriations measure.
15 The term is derived from the word omnibus, which is used to describe one legislative vehicle combining the text of
multiple separate bills, including appropriations bills. Minibus is an inexact term that has typically been used to
describe a combination of some, but not most or all, regular appropriations bills.
16 This type of procedure is often referred to as a “self-executing” amendment, because the House does not take a
separate vote on whether to agree to the committee print as an amendment.
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separate regular appropriations bill included is designated as a separate division of the bill. The
special rules then provide that each division is to be amended separately in sequential order.
Once the amendment process is completed, the House votes on the measure’s engrossment and
third reading. At this point, a Member who opposed the measure may make a motion to recommit
the measure back to the Appropriations Committee, which would have the effect of delaying any
further consideration of the measure.17 Following the disposition of any motion to recommit, the
House votes on final passage of the measure. After House passage, the bill is sent to the Senate
for further consideration.
Senate Consideration
The Senate lacks a procedural mechanism like the House Rules Committee and special rules that
can be used to tailor its consideration of regular appropriations measures. In addition,
appropriations measures enjoy no special privilege for consideration under the Senate’s rules. As
a consequence, floor consideration of appropriations bills is similar in most respects to the
consideration of other legislation.18
Because appropriations measures enjoy no special privilege for consideration in the Senate, a
motion to proceed to their consideration would be debatable in most circumstances. This means
that the question of whether to consider an appropriations measure (as well as the appropriations
measure itself) would be subject to the possibility of extended debate (commonly known as a
filibuster).19 The Senate can avoid this possibility through the use of unanimous consent or
overcome it by invoking cloture by supermajority vote.
The Senate routinely uses unanimous consent agreements to supersede, modify, or waive its rules.
These agreements simply involve no Senator objecting to the request. Using this practice, the
Senate may choose to call up legislation for consideration or set specialized terms and conditions
for floor debate and amending. If objection is heard and unanimous consent cannot be obtained,
the majority leader (or his or her designee) may offer a motion to proceed to the consideration of
the measure. This motion can be agreed to by a simple majority, but because it is usually
debatable, Senators may choose to debate, even when debate would delay or prevent floor
consideration. In order to end debate, Senate Rule XXII provides for cloture to be invoked by a
vote of three-fifths of all Senators (60 votes if there is no more than one vacancy).
Once the Senate has agreed to consider an appropriations measure, it may operate under the
regular rules and practices of the Senate, or it may agree by unanimous consent to limit or
structure debate or amending. In particular, Senate Rule XVI establishes general restrictions on
amendments to appropriations bills, including prohibitions against amendments that propose
general legislation or are not germane to the subject matter contained in the bill.20
As with the motion to proceed, an appropriations bill can be agreed to by a simple majority, but it
may be necessary to invoke cloture in order to end debate and reach a vote on final passage.

17 For more information about the motion to recommit, see CRS Report R46790, House Rules Changes Affecting Floor
Proceedings in the 117th Congress (2021-2022), by Jane A. Hudiburg.
18 For more information on the legislative process in the Senate generally, see CRS Report RS20668, How Measures
Are Brought to the Senate Floor: A Brief Introduction, by Christopher M. Davis.
19 For more information, see CRS Report RL30360, Filibusters and Cloture in the Senate, by Valerie Heitshusen and
Richard S. Beth.
20 Under Rule XVI, paragraph 4, if a point of order is raised that an amendment is not germane, the presiding officer
may make a threshold ruling whether there is language to which the amendment could be considered germane, but the
question is determined by a vote of the Senate.
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Resolving Differences Between the House and
Senate
The final stage of the legislative process is the resolving of any disagreements between the House
and Senate. For Congress to present any legislation to the President for signature or veto, the
Constitution requires that the House and Senate pass the same measure without any differences in
the legislative text.
The simplest method to achieve this result is for one chamber to take up a measure passed by the
other chamber and pass it without amendment. In cases when this is not possible, two other
procedures can be used: (1) appointing a formal conference committee to negotiate a compromise
form of the measure or (2) an exchange of amendments between the chambers. Under the former
method, Members from each chamber are appointed as conferees to negotiate a compromise text,
which then has to be approved by both chambers. Conferees are chosen from the membership of
the Appropriations Committees as the committees of jurisdiction. The exchange of amendments
method entails one chamber agreeing to a compromise text and proposing it to the other chamber.
The second chamber may choose to agree to the new text, reject it, or propose a further amended
text.21
Traditionally, the House of Representatives initiated consideration of regular appropriations
measures, and the Senate subsequently considered and amended the House-passed bills. Under
more recent practice, the Senate has sometimes chosen instead to begin consideration with Senate
bills independent of the timing of House consideration. Regardless of the approach, the House bill
has been the legislative vehicle ultimately enacted.
In addition to the legislative text, the final version of appropriations measures is accompanied by
explanatory text that is written and negotiated by the House and Senate Appropriations
Committees.22 This explanatory text functions much like the written reports that accompany
regular appropriations bills when reported by the Appropriations Committees. It often
incorporates any committee reports previously reported by the House and Senate Appropriations
Committees by reference and provides additional information regarding congressional intent
concerning how agencies should obligate the appropriated funds, including resolving any
differences in the House and Senate committee reports.
Other Forms of Appropriations Legislation
In addition to regular appropriations acts, Congress typically develops and considers
appropriations in the form of continuing and supplemental appropriations acts every year. These
acts are used for different purposes than regular appropriations acts are, and, consequently, their
form and congressional consideration differ. This section provides a brief summary of these
differences.

21 For more information, see CRS Report 98-696, Resolving Legislative Differences in Congress: Conference
Committees and Amendments Between the Houses, by Elizabeth Rybicki.
22 When differences are resolved using a conference committee, the explanatory text is provided in a Joint Explanatory
Statement that accompanies, and is printed with, the conference report. When differences are resolved through an
amendment exchange, this explanatory text is typically printed in the Congressional Record. For more information, see
“Preceding Matter Concerning the Explanatory Statement” in CRS Report R46899, Regular Appropriations Acts:
Selected Statutory Interpretation Issues, by Sean M. Stiff.
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Continuing Appropriations
Congress has not typically completed its consideration of regular appropriations bills before the
start of the next fiscal year on October 1.23 Because budget authority provided in regular
appropriations acts typically expires at the end of the fiscal year (September 30), Congress may
use one or more continuing appropriations acts (often referred to as a “continuing resolution” or a
CR24) to provide interim funding. If there is an interval during a fiscal year when appropriations
for a particular project or activity are not enacted into law, either in the form of a regular
appropriations act or a CR, a funding gap (also referred to as a funding lapse) may occur. If there
is a funding gap, the Antideficiency Act (31 U.S.C. §§1341-1342, 1511-1519) generally bars the
obligation or expenditure of federal funds in the absence of appropriations, and affected agencies
and departments must cease the majority of their operations until additional appropriations are
provided.25 In some instances, continuing appropriations acts have been used to provide funding
for the entire remainder of a fiscal year. (Such measures are commonly referred to as “full-year
CRs.”)
The form of a CR differs from other appropriations acts and is usually comprised of three main
components:
• temporary appropriations to continue funding for the activities funded by the
prior year’s regular appropriations acts;
• provisions limiting the agencies’ use of that budget authority during the duration
of the CR; and
• additional provisions (commonly referred to as “anomalies”) that provide either
additional funding, exceptions to the terms and conditions of the CR, or other
legislative changes for specific programs or activities.
The first component of a CR provides funding for the government’s ongoing activities using a
funding rate specified in the law itself. In recent practice, this has typically been at the rate based
on the prior year’s appropriations acts, prorated for the duration of the CR. CRs also typically
attach a number of routine conditions on these funds in order to preserve Congress’s authority to
determine spending levels and priorities for the new fiscal year in subsequent regular
appropriations acts. For example, most CRs require that agencies not initiate new programs or
activities and use the CR’s funding authority in the most limited way possible.26 CRs may also
include “anomaly” provisions that specify exceptions to the CR’s funding rate for designated
programs or activities.

23 The Congressional Budget Act of 1974 established that beginning with FY1977, fiscal years would commence on
October 1 of each year and end on September 30 of the following year. Since FY1977, there have been four times when
all regular appropriations bills have been enacted before the start of the fiscal year, most recently for FY1997. For more
information, see CRS Report R46595, Continuing Resolutions: Overview of Components and Practices, coordinated by
James V. Saturno.
24 Historically, continuing appropriations acts took the form of joint resolutions. In recent practice, it is more common
for them to be included in measures that include other legislative provisions in addition to continuing appropriations.
25 For more information, see CRS Report RS20348, Federal Funding Gaps: A Brief Overview, by James V. Saturno,
and CRS Report RL34680, Shutdown of the Federal Government: Causes, Processes, and Effects, coordinated by
Clinton T. Brass. In addition, an overview of the Antideficiency Act and additional resources concerning the
requirements of the law are available from the Government Accountability Office at https://www.gao.gov/legal/
appropriations-law-decisions/resources.
26 For other examples, see the “Coverage Duration, and Rate” section of CRS Report R47283, Overview of Continuing
Appropriations for FY2023 (Division A of P.L. 117-180), by Drew C. Aherne and Sarah B. Solomon.
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In recent practice, CRs are generally developed by House and Senate leadership and the leaders
of the Appropriations Committees but have not usually been marked up by the Appropriations
Committees.27
Supplemental Appropriations
Supplemental appropriations acts provide budget authority in addition to any amounts provided
by regular or continuing appropriations measures. These measures are usually developed in
response to urgent and unanticipated needs, such as natural disasters and urgent military
operations.28
Like regular appropriations acts, these supplemental appropriations acts provide definite amounts
of budget authority for specific purposes. However, this budget authority is usually available for
obligation immediately upon enactment and remains available until it is expended. Like CRs, in
recent practice these measures have usually been introduced without being first marked up or
otherwise considered by the Appropriations Committees. It is common for supplemental
appropriations bills to be packaged and jointly considered with regular or continuing
appropriations measures.
Appropriations and Other Measures
The annual consideration of regular appropriations measures is one part of the federal budget
process.29 Various statutes, congressional rules, practices, and precedents have been established
over time to create a complex system in which multiple decisions and actions occur with varying
degrees of coordination. Appropriations measures can be distinguished from other legislation
under House and Senate rules, but the provisions included in appropriations measures are often
influenced or constrained by other legislation. In particular, decisions made through authorizing
legislation and budget resolutions can have an impact on the choices made by Congress with
respect to which programs or activities are funded and how much may be appropriated.
Authorizations and Appropriations30
Authorizations may generally be described as any statutory provisions that define the authority of
the federal government to act. They can establish or continue a federal agency, program, policy,
project, or activity. Further, an authorization may establish policies and restrictions or deal with
organizational and administrative matters. These are sometimes referred to as “organic” or
“enabling” authorizations. It is generally understood that such statutory authority to administer a
program or engage in an activity also provides an implicit authorization for Congress to
appropriate for such program or activity. An authorization may also include language to explicitly
authorize subsequent congressional action to provide appropriations in definite or indefinite
amounts (i.e., “such sums as may be necessary”).

27 Consequently, the Appropriations Committees also do not typically write reports to accompany CRs.
28 For example, see Divisions B and C of the Extending Government Funding and Delivering Emergency Assistance
Act (P.L. 117-43).
29 For a broader discussion of the budget process, see CRS Report R46240, Introduction to the Federal Budget Process,
by James V. Saturno.
30 For more information, see CRS Report R46497, Authorizations and the Appropriations Process, by James V.
Saturno.
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Although authorizations are often thought of in the context of being the first step in the
authorization and appropriations process, authorizations of appropriations are not budgetary
legislation for two reasons: (1) by itself an authorization of appropriations does not provide
funding for government activities, and (2) Congress is not required to provide appropriations for
all authorized programs. For example, an authorization act may establish or modify programs or
activities within the Department of Justice, but funding for those programs would be available
only to the extent provided in appropriations acts. If an authorization act includes language
explicitly authorizing subsequent appropriations for specific agencies and programs, under House
and Senate rules that language is considered to establish a procedural ceiling on the level of
appropriations that may be provided.
The standing rules of the House and Senate31 generally establish a presumption that
appropriations measures provide new budget authority only for programs, activities, or agencies
previously authorized by law. While limiting appropriations to purposes previously authorized by
law imposes a general requirement for sequential action, this is not understood to entail a
requirement that authorizing legislation also be enacted on an annual (or periodic) cycle or in the
same year as appropriations action. Authorizations may be enacted on a permanent, annual, or
multiyear basis. Annual and multiyear provisions may require reauthorizations when they expire.
Funding for programs or activities is often described as “unauthorized” when no authorization has
been enacted or, if previously enacted, has terminated or expired. Because this distinction is based
on chamber rules rather than a constitutional or general statutory requirement, Congress may still
choose to appropriate funds. In such cases, the enacted appropriation may be considered, in
effect, to be its own authorization, and the funds would be available to the agency for obligation
and expenditure.
House and Senate rules also preserve the distinction between authorizations and appropriations by
prohibiting the inclusion of general legislative language in appropriations measures.
Budget Resolutions and Appropriations32
The Congressional Budget Act (CBA) provides for the adoption of a concurrent resolution on the
budget. Because a concurrent resolution is not a law, the President cannot sign or veto it, and it
does not have statutory effect, so no money can be raised or spent pursuant to it. The main
purpose of the budget resolution is to establish the framework within which Congress considers
separate budget-related measures, including appropriations measures. To do this, the budget
resolution is used to set aggregate budget policies and functional priorities for the upcoming
budget year and for at least four additional fiscal years. In recent practice, budget resolutions have
often covered a 10-year period. The CBA provides for the levels agreed upon for the upcoming
budget year to be enforceable by points of order.33

31 House Rule XXI and Senate Rule XVI.
32 For more information, see CRS Report R40472, The Budget Resolution and Spending Legislation, by Megan S.
Lynch.
33 Points of order are effectively prohibitions against certain types of legislation or other congressional actions being
taken in the legislative process. Points of order are not self-enforcing. A Member must raise a point of order on the
floor of the chamber before the presiding officer can rule on its application and thus its enforcement.
Congressional Research Service

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The Appropriations Process: A Brief Overview

The CBA requires that the report accompanying the budget resolution in each chamber include an
allocation of total budget authority among all committees with spending jurisdiction (commonly
referred to as Section 302(a) allocations after the applicable section of the CBA). Although the
major program assumptions underlying the functional amounts in the budget resolution inform
these allocations, these assumptions are not considered binding or enforceable, and specific
programmatic funding decisions remain the responsibility of the committees with spending
jurisdiction, including the House and Senate Appropriations Committees. An allocation as
required under Section 302(a) of the CBA, however, effectively sets an enforceable ceiling on
total appropriations.34
The CBA further requires the Appropriations Committees separately subdivide the 302(a) amount
among their subcommittees, effectively providing each subcommittee with its own ceiling. These
subdivisions are referred to as the 302(b) suballocations. The authority for making 302(b)
suballocations belongs to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, and the committees
may later revise them. Such suballocations become effective (and enforceable) once the
committees have reported them.
The CBA provides that the House may consider regular appropriations bills after May 15 even if
a budget resolution has not been adopted or 302(a) allocations or 302(b) suballocations made.
Without a budget resolution, there may not be an enforceable upper limit on the overall level of
appropriations.
Congress may use alternative means to establish enforceable budget levels. When Congress has
reached final agreement on a budget resolution after April 15 or has not reached agreement at all,
the House and Senate, often acting separately, have used legislative procedures to deal with
enforcement issues on an ad hoc basis. These alternatives are typically referred to as “deeming
resolutions,” because they are deemed to serve in place of an agreement between the two
chambers on an annual budget resolution for the purposes of establishing enforceable budget
levels for the upcoming fiscal year.35
Author Information

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

34 For more information, see CRS Report R47388, Enforceable Spending Allocations in the Congressional Budget
Process: 302(a)s and 302(b)s, by Drew C. Aherne.
35 For more information, see CRS Report R44296, Deeming Resolutions: Budget Enforcement in the Absence of a
Budget Resolution, by Megan S. Lynch.
Congressional Research Service

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The Appropriations Process: A Brief Overview

Key Policy Staff
Area of Expertise
Name
Legislative and Budget Procedure
James V. Saturno
Legislative and Budget Procedure
Megan S. Lynch
Legislative and Budget Procedure
Bil Heniff Jr.
Legislative and Budget Procedure
Drew Aherne

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

Congressional Research Service
R47106 · VERSION 3 · UPDATED
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Legislative Process

Appropriations

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Source: CRSReports.Congress.gov

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