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The Congressional Appropriations Process:

An Introduction

Updated May 31, 2002

Sandy Streeter

Analyst in American National Government

Government and Finance Division
The Congressional Appropriations Process:

An Introduction

Summary

Congress annually considers 13 or more appropriations measures, which provide

funding for activities such as national defense, certain income security programs

(primarily housing subsidies), education, anti-crime programs, and general

government operations such as the administration of federal agencies. Congress has

developed certain rules and practices for the consideration of appropriations

measures, referred to as the appropriations process.

Generally, the appropriations process includes the

! Annual appropriations cycle;

! Spending ceilings for appropriations associated with the annual

budget resolution;Spending ceilings established in the sequestration

process; and

! Prohibitions against certain language in appropriations measures that

violate separation of the authorization and appropriations functions

into separate measures.

There are three types of appropriations measures. Regular appropriations bills

provide most of the funding that is provided in all appropriations measures for a

fiscal year, and must be enacted by October 1 of each year. If regular bills are not

enacted by the deadline, Congress adopts continuing resolutions to continue funding

generally until regular bills are enacted. Supplemental bills are considered later and

provide additional appropriations.

Appropriations measures are under the jurisdiction of the House and Senate

Appropriations Committees. These committees control only about one-third of total

federal spending provided for a fiscal year. The House and Senate authorizing

committees control the rest.
Contents

Introduction ......................................................1

Annual Appropriations Cycle ........................................2

President Submits Budget .......................................2

Congress Adopts Budget Resolution ...............................3

Timetable for Consideration of Appropriations Measures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Work of the Appropriations Committees ............................5

House and Senate Floor Action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

House . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Senate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

House and Senate Conference Action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Presidential Action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Types of Appropriations Measures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Regular Appropriations Bills .....................................9

Distribution of Funding Among Regular Appropriations Bills . . . . . . 11

Continuing Resolutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Supplementals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Spending Ceilings for Appropriations Measures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Budget Resolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Allocations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Enforcement of Budget Resolution Ceilings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Sequestration Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Relationship Between Authorization and

Appropriations Measures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Rescissions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

For Additional Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

CRS Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Congressional Hearings, Reports, and Documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Selected World Wide Web Sites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

List of Tables

Table 1. Number of Regular Appropriations Bills Packaged in a Single 

Measure, FY1977-FY2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Table 2. Distribution of FY2001 Enacted Discretionary Spending by 

Appropriations Subcommittee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Table 3. Number of Regular Appropriations Bills Enacted Separately 

and in Continuing Resolutions (CRs), FY1977-FY2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Table 4. FY2002 Appropriations Committees’ 302(a) Allocations . . . . . . . . . . 19

Table 5. Senate Appropriations Committee’s 302(b) Allocations for FY2002 . 20

Table 6. FY2002 Discretionary Spending Limits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Table 7. FY2002 Sequestration Scenario . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
1

 U.S. Constitution , Article I, Section 9. 

2

 The Antideficiency Act (31 U.S.C. 1341(a)(1)). This prohibition was derived from a

statute enacted in 1870 (16 Stat. 251). U.S. General Accounting Office, Principles of

Federal Appropriations Law, 2nd edition, vol. 2, GAO/OGC-91-5 (Washington: GPO, July

1991), pp. 6-10 through 6-12.

3

 31 U.S.C. 1301(a). This requirement was originally enacted in 1809 (2 Stat. 535). U.S.

General Accounting Office, Principles of Federal Appropriations Law, 2nd edition, vol. 1,

GAO/OGC-91-5 (Washington: GPO, July 1991), pp. 4-2.

The Congressional Appropriations Process:

An Introduction

Introduction

Congress annually considers 13 or more appropriations measures, which provide

funding for activities such as national defense, certain income security programs

(primarily housing subsidies), education, anti-crime programs, and general

government operations such as the administration of federal agencies. Congress has

developed certain rules and practices for the consideration of appropriations

measures, referred to as the appropriations process.

Generally, the appropriations process includes the:

! Annual appropriations cycle;

! Spending ceilings for appropriations associated with the annual

budget resolution;Spending ceilings established in the sequestration

process; and

! Prohibitions against certain language in appropriations measures that

violate separation of the authorization and appropriations functions

into separate measures.

When considering appropriations measures, Congress is exercising the power

granted to it under the Constitution, which states, “No money shall be drawn from

the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law ....”1 The power

to appropriate is exclusively a legislative power. The executive branch may not

spend more than the amount appropriated,2 and it may use available funds only for

the purposes established by Congress.3

The President also has an important role in the appropriations process by virtue

of his constitutional power to approve or veto entire measures and his various duties

imposed by statute, such as submitting an annual budget to the Congress.
CRS-2

4

 Congress provides spending for fiscal years, in contrast to calendar years. Fiscal years

begin on October 1 and end the following September 30. FY2002 began on October 1,

2001. 

5

 31 U.S.C. 1105(a).

6

 For information on budget submissions in Presidential transition years, see CRS Report

RS20752, Submission of the President’s Budget in Transition Years, by Robert Keith.

This report discusses the annual appropriations cycle, spending ceilings, and

relationship between authorization and appropriations measures.

Annual Appropriations Cycle

President Submits Budget

The President initiates the appropriations process by submitting his annual

budget for the upcoming fiscal year to Congress.4 The President is required to

submit his annual budget on or before the first Monday in February.5 Congress has

provided extensions of the deadline both statutorily and, sometimes, informally.6

The President recommends spending levels for the various programs and

agencies of the federal government in the form of budget authority, or BA, since

Congress provides budget authority instead of cash to agencies. Budget authority

represents the legal authority for federal agencies to make obligations requiring either

immediate or future expenditures (or outlays). These obligations (for example,

entering into a contract to construct a ship or purchase supplies) result in outlays,

which are payments from the Treasury, usually in the form of checks, electronic

funds transfers, or cash disbursements.

For example, an appropriations act provided $3 billion in new budget authority

for FY2002 to the Defense Department to construct four ships. That is, the act gives

the Department legal authority to sign contracts to build the ships. The department

can not commit the government to pay more than $3 billion. The outlays occur when

the contractor cashes the government check for building the ships.

Generally, appropriations are a type of budget authority. Appropriations

measures provide new budget authority (as opposed to previously enacted budget

authority). Typically, appropriations must be obligated in the fiscal year for which

they are provided. In the above example, the Defense Department would be required

to sign the construction contracts during FY2002.

Not all new budget authority provided for a fiscal year is expended that year.

For example, although Congress provides $3 billion in budget authority for FY2002
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7

 2 U.S.C. 601-688 (1988 & Supp. IV 1992); P.L. 93-344 (88 Stat. 297); amended by the

Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, P.L. 99-177 (99 Stat. 1037,

1038); further amended by the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control

Reaffirmation Act of 1987, P.L. 100-119 (101 Stat. 754); further amended by the Budget

Enforcement Act of 1990, P.L. 101-508 (104 Stat. 1388-573 to 1388-630); further amended

by the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993, P.L. 103-66 (107 Stat. 312); and further

amended by the Budget Enforcement Act of 1997, P.L. 105-33 (111 Stat. 251).

8

 Budget resolutions are under the jurisdiction of the House and Senate Budget Committees.

to construct four ships, the outlays may occur over several years, until the project is

completed:

! FY2002, no outlays;

! FY2003, $0.5 billion;

! FY2004, $1.0 billion; and

! FY2005, $1.5 billion.

A total of $3.0 billion in outlays is spent over 4 fiscal years.

As Congress considers appropriations measures providing new budget authority

for a particular fiscal year, discussions on the resulting outlays only involve

estimates. Data on the actual outlays for a fiscal year are not available until the fiscal

year has ended.

When the President submits his budget to Congress, the agencies provide

detailed justification materials to the House and Senate appropriations

subcommittees, which have jurisdiction over funding for the particular agencies.

 

Congress Adopts Budget Resolution

The Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974, as amended,

(the Congressional Budget Act)7 requires Congress to adopt an annual budget

resolution.8 During the 26 fiscal years that Congress has considered budget

resolutions, Congress has eventually adopted a budget resolution in every year except

one—FY1999. There is no penalty if the budget resolution is not completed.

Usually, the budget resolution is Congress’s response to the President’s budget.

The budget resolution must cover at least 5 fiscal years: the upcoming fiscal year

plus four additional fiscal years. 

The budget resolution is never sent to the President, nor does it become law. It

does not provide spending authority or raise or lower revenues, but is instead a guide

for Congress to use as it considers various budget bills, including appropriations and

tax measures.

The budget resolution sets total new budget authority and outlay levels for each

fiscal year covered by the resolution. It also distributes federal spending among 20

functional categories, such as national defense, agriculture, and transportation, and
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9

 The committee ceilings are usually provided in the joint explanatory statement that

accompanies the conference report to the budget resolution.

10 For details, see §303(a) of the Congressional Budget Act, as amended by §10107 of the

Budget Enforcement Act of 1997 (P.L. 105-33, 111 Stat. 251).

11 Section 303(b) of the Congressional Budget Act, as amended. Of the three types of

appropriations measures, regular appropriations bills have traditionally provided agencies

most of their budget authority (see Types of Appropriations Measures below).

sets similar levels for each function. The resolution also includes revenue floors for

each fiscal year.

Total new budget authority and outlays are distributed among both the House

and Senate committees with jurisdiction over spending, thereby setting spending

ceilings for each committee (see Allocations section under Budget Resolution).9

The Congressional Budget Act provides an April 15 deadline for final

congressional adoption of the budget resolution. However, Congress frequently does

not meet this deadline and there is no penalty if it is not met.

The Congressional Budget Act generally prohibits House or Senate floor

consideration of revenue or spending measures for a fiscal year until Congress adopts

the budget resolution.10 However, even if the budget resolution is not in place, the

House may begin considering the regular appropriations bills without violating the

act after May 15.11 

No such provision exists in the Senate. Anticipating a delay of congressional

adoption of the FY1999 budget resolution, the Senate approved S.Res. 209 on April

2, 1998. This resolution allowed the Senate to consider the FY1999 regular

appropriations bills even though Congress had not completed the budget resolution.

S.Res. 209 provided interim spending allocations to the Senate Appropriations

Committee that was to have expired upon completion of the FY1999 budget

resolution.

Timetable for Consideration of Appropriations Measures

Traditionally, the House of Representatives has initiated consideration of

appropriations measures. The House Appropriations Committee has jurisdiction over

appropriations measures and ordinarily begins the legislative process by reporting the

13 regular appropriations bills separately to the full House.

The House Appropriations Committee begins reporting the bills in May or June,

completing all or almost all of them by the annual August recess. Generally, the full

House begins consideration of the regular appropriations bills in May or June as well,

passing most by the recess.

Generally, the Senate Appropriations Committee has jurisdiction over

appropriations measures and begins reporting the regular appropriations bills to the

full Senate in May and June. All of the measures are generally reported before the
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12 For a description of continuing resolutions, see Types of Appropriations Measures below.

13 If Congress is late in completing action on the budget resolution, the appropriations

committees sometimes use temporary committee spending ceilings and begin the process.

Regarding markup, the chairman usually proposes a draft bill (the chairman’s mark).

The chairman and other subcommittee members discuss amendments to the draft and may

agree to include some (referred to as marking up the bill). Regular appropriations bills are

not introduced prior to full committee markup. The bill is introduced when the House

Appropriations Committee reports the bill; a bill number is assigned at that time. The House

rules allow the House Appropriations Committee to originate a bill. In contrast, most House

committees do not have such authority.

August recess or in September. The Senate begins passing the bills in June or July

and completes most of the bills by the end of September.

During the fall, the Appropriations Committees are usually heavily involved in

conferences to resolve differences between the two chambers. Relatively little or no

time is left before the fiscal year begins to resolve what may be wide disparities

between the House and Senate, to say nothing of those between Congress and the

President. Congress is usually faced with the need to enact one or more temporary

continuing resolutions pending the final disposition of the regular appropriations

bills.12

Work of the Appropriations Committees

After the President submits his budget, the House and Senate Appropriations

Committees hold full committee and subcommittee hearings on the segments of the

budget under their jurisdiction. The 13 appropriations subcommittees in each house

hold more detailed hearings on the agencies’ justifications, primarily obtaining

testimony from agency officials.

Each appropriations subcommittee has jurisdiction over one regular

appropriations bill. Each House appropriations subcommittee is paired with a Senate

appropriations subcommittee, both having jurisdiction over the same agencies and

programs. For example, the House and Senate agriculture appropriations

subcommittees have jurisdiction over the agriculture regular appropriations bill.

After the hearings have been completed and the House and Senate

Appropriations Committees have received their committee spending ceilings from

the budget resolution, the House and Senate appropriations subcommittees begin to

mark up the regular bills under their jurisdiction and report them to their respective

full committees.13 Each appropriations committee considers each of their

subcommittee’s recommendations separately. The committees may adopt

amendments to a subcommittee bill and then report the bill as amended to their

respective floors for action.
CRS-6

14 Traditionally, the Senate Appropriations Committee had generally waited until it received

a House-passed regular appropriations bill before it drafted its version. The Senate

appropriations subcommittee reported the House-passed bill to the full committee with

several amendments distributed throughout the bill. The number of amendments in each bill

would range from a few to over 100. The full committee considered subcommittee

recommendations and made any changes it considered appropriate. The full committee then

reported the bill with recommended amendments to the Senate for floor consideration.

On the Senate floor, the Senate generally adopted most of the Committee amendments

by unanimous consent. When committee amendments were controversial, they were

sometimes considered separately, and referred to as excepted committee amendments. That

is, they were excepted from the unanimous consent agreement by which most of the

committee amendments were adopted.

After the House and Senate passed their versions of a regular bill, a conference was

held to negotiate over the Senate amendments. The conference committee reported a

conference report containing the agreements reached on the amendments. If the conferees

did not reach agreement on one or more amendments, they separately reported those in

disagreement and did not include them in the conference report. While the House and

Senate can not amend conference reports, they may amend those amendments reported in

disagreement.

15 Because the regular appropriations bills must be completed in a timely fashion, House

Rule XIII, clause 5, provides that these appropriations bills are privileged. This allows the

House Appropriations Committee to bring appropriations bills directly to the floor in

contrast to asking the Rules Committee to report a special rule. The latter method is used

for most major measures.

In recent years, the House Appropriations Committee has usually used the special rule

procedure, however. These special rules typically include waivers of certain parliamentary

rules regarding the consideration of appropriations bills and certain provisions within them.

Special rules may also be used for other purposes, such as restricting floor amendments.

16 House Rule XVIII, clause 3, requires that appropriations measures be considered in the

Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union (Committee of the Whole) before

the House votes on passage of the measures (see CRS Report 95-563, The Legislative

(continued...)

Recently, the Senate Appropriations Committee has generally reported either

original Senate regular appropriations bills or substitute amendments replacing the

texts of the House-passed bills.14

House and Senate Floor Action

After the House or Senate Appropriations Committee reports an appropriations

bill to the House or Senate, the bill is brought to the floor. At this point,

Representatives or Senators are generally provided an opportunity to propose floor

amendments to the bill.

House. Prior to floor consideration of a regular appropriations bill, the House

generally considers a special rule reported by the House Rules Committee setting

parameters for floor consideration of the bill.15 If the House adopts the special rule,

it usually considers the appropriations bill immediately.

The House considers the bill in the Committee of the Whole of which all

Representatives are members.16 A special rule on an appropriations bill usually
CRS-7

16 (...continued)

Process on the House Floor: An Introduction, by Stanley Bach).

17 A ranking minority member of a committee or subcommittee is the head of the minority

party members of the particular committee or subcommittee.

18 They generally consider amendments by going through the bill in order. The presiding

officer asks if there are any amendments to the paragraph (or title) under consideration.

provides for one hour of general debate on the bill. The debate includes opening

statements by the chairman and ranking minority member17 of the appropriations

subcommittee with jurisdiction over the regular bill, as well as other interested

Representatives. 

After the Committee of the Whole debates the bill, it considers amendments.18

Amendments must meet requirements of the:

! House standing rules and precedents, for example, amendments must

be germane to the bill;Authorization-appropriations process, which

enforces the relationship between authorization and appropriations

measures (see Relationship Between the Authorization and

Appropriations Measures below);

! Congressional budget process (see Allocations section under Budget

Resolution); andSpecial rule providing for consideration of the

particular bill.

If an amendment violates any of these requirements, any Representative may raise

a point of order to that effect. If the presiding officer rules the amendment out of

order, it cannot be considered on the House floor. The special rule may waive any

of these requirements, thereby allowing the House to consider the amendment.

During consideration of individual regular appropriations bills, the House

sometimes sets additional parameters, either by adopting a special rule or by

unanimous consent. The House agrees to the parameters only if no Representative

objects. For example, the House sometimes agrees to limit debate on individual

amendments by unanimous consent.

After the Committee of the Whole completes consideration of the measure, it

reports the bill with any adopted amendments to the full House. The House then

votes on the adopted amendments and passage. After House passage, the bill is sent

to the Senate.

Senate. The full Senate considers the bill as reported by its Appropriations

Committee. The Senate does not utilize the device of a special rule to set parameters

for consideration of bills. Before taking up the bill, however, or during its

consideration, the Senate sometimes sets parameters by unanimous consent.
CRS-8

19 The Senate, in contrast to the House, does not consider floor amendments in the order of

the bill. Senators may propose amendments to any portion of the bill at any time unless the

Senate agrees to set limits.

20 It does so either by unanimous consent or, in some cases, by motion.

21 If the Senate (or House) does not pass a bill, informal negotiations typically take place on

the basis of the reported version of that chamber. For example, the House passed the

FY1999 Interior bill, but the Senate did not. Negotiations then ensued over the Housepassed version and the Senate reported-version. Frequently, the compromise is included in

a conference report on an omnibus appropriations measure (see Regular Appropriations Bill

below). The final version of the FY1999 Interior bill was incorporated in the conference

report to the FY1999 omnibus appropriations bill (P.L. 105-277), which included eight

regular appropriations bills.

22 House Rule XXII, clause 9, and Senate Rule XXVIII, paragraphs 2 and 3.

23 Generally, before the House considers a conference report on an appropriations measure,

it adopts a special rule waiving all points of order against the conference report and its

consideration, including points of order that the conference report goes beyond the scope

of the differences.

When the bill is brought up on the floor, the chairman and ranking minority

member of the appropriations subcommittee make opening statements on the

contents of the bill as reported.

Committee and floor amendments to the reported bills must meet requirements

under the Senate standing rules and precedents, the authorization-appropriations

process, and the congressional budget process.19 The specifics of the Senate and

House requirements differ. As in the House, the Senate may sometimes waive some

of these rules.20

When the Senate Appropriations Committee reports a Senate bill and after the

full Senate has completed action on it, the Senate waits for the House to send its bill

to the Senate and amends the House-passed bill with generally a substitute

amendment that contains the text of the Senate bill as amended on the Senate floor.

House and Senate Conference Action

Generally, members of the House and Senate appropriations subcommittees

having jurisdiction over a particular regular appropriations bill, the chairmen of the

full committees, and the ranking minority members of the full committees meet to

negotiate over differences between the House- and Senate-passed bills.21

Under House and Senate rules, the negotiators (or conferees or managers) are

generally required to remain within the scope of the differences between the positions

of the two chambers.22 Their agreement must be within the range established by the

House- and Senate-passed versions. For example, if the House-passed bill

appropriates $3 million for a program and a separate Senate amendment provides $5

million, the conferees must reach an agreement that is within the $3-5 million range.

However, these rules are not always followed.23
CRS-9

24 Single substitute amendments are used because the Senate Appropriations Committee

reported either a single substitute amendment to the House-passed bill or an original Senate

bill.

25 Technically, if either house rejects the conference report, the two houses normally agree

to further conference, usually appointing the same conferees.

When the Senate passes a single substitute amendment to a House bill,24 the

conferees must reach agreement on all points of difference between the House and

Senate versions before reporting the conference report in agreement to both houses.

When this occurs, the conferees propose a new conference substitute for the bill as

a whole. The conferees attach a joint explanatory statement (or managers’

statement) explaining the new substitute.

Usually, the House considers conference reports on appropriations measures

first because it traditionally considers the measures first. The first house to consider

a conference report has the option of voting to recommit the report to the conference

for further consideration, rejecting the conference report, or adopting it. After the

first house adopts the conference report, the conference is automatically disbanded;

therefore, the second house has two options—adopt or reject the conference report.

After a conference report is adopted, the amendments reported in disagreement are

considered sequentially.

Conference reports cannot be amended in either the House or Senate.

If the conference report is rejected, or is recommitted by the first house, the

conferees negotiate further over the matters in dispute between the two houses.25 The

measure cannot be sent to the President until both houses have agreed to the entire

text of the bill.

Presidential Action

After Congress sends the bill to the President, he has 10 days to sign or veto the

measure. If he takes no action, the bill automatically becomes law at the end of the

10-day period. Conversely, if he takes no action when Congress has adjourned, he

may pocket veto the bill.

If the President vetoes the bill, he sends it back to Congress. Congress may

override the veto by a 2/3 vote in both houses. If Congress successfully overrides the

veto, the bill becomes law. If Congress is unsuccessful, the bill dies.

Types of Appropriations Measures

Regular Appropriations Bills

Annually, Congress considers 13 regular appropriations bills. Their complete

names and the familiar forms of those names are as follows:
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26 There is no definition of earmark accepted by all practitioners and observers of the

congressional budget process.

27 For more information, see CRS Report 98-518, Earmarks and Limitations in

Appropriations Bills, by Sandy Streeter.

28 Authorization measures may also provide transfer authority. For information on

authorization measures, see Relationship Between the Authorization and Appropriations

Measures below.

! Agriculture, rural development, Food and Drug Administration, and

related agencies (Agriculture); Departments of Commerce, Justice,

and State, the Judiciary, and related agencies (Commerce-JusticeState); 

! Department of Defense (Defense); 

! District of Columbia (DC); 

! Energy and water development (energy and water); 

! Foreign operations, export financing, and related programs (foreign

operations or foreign assistance); Department of the Interior and

related agencies (Interior); 

! Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education,

and related agencies (Labor-HHS-Education); Legislative branch

(Leg. Branch); 

! Military construction (Mil. Con.);

! Department of Transportation (Transportation); 

! Treasury, Postal Service, and general government (Treasury); and 

! Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban

Development, and independent agencies (VA-HUD).

Generally, Congress provides appropriations in lump-sum amounts by grouping

related activities together (generally referred to as accounts) and providing budget

authority for each account it chooses to fund. For example, the FY1997 energy and

water act provided an appropriation of $1.2 billion for the “Construction, General”

account of the Army Corps of Engineers. Some of the activities funded in this

account were construction projects regarding flood control and shore protection.

Regular appropriations measures may also include provisions setting aside funds

within an account for a more specific purpose (some refer to as an earmark).26 For

example, within the FY1997 appropriation for the Corps’ “Construction, General”

account, Congress earmarked $3 million for Red River Emergency Bank Protection

in Arkansas.27

The appropriations committees include most of these earmarks in committee

reports and the joint explanatory statements that accompany conference reports.

Although earmarks in committee reports and joint explanatory statements do not

have the force of law, agencies generally follow these guidelines set by the

appropriators since the agencies require annual appropriations.

Appropriations measures may also provide transfer authority.28 Transfers shift

budget authority from one account or fund to another. For example, if the Corps of

Engineers moved budget authority from the “Construction, General” account to the
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29 Agencies may not shift budget authority that has been earmarked within an account in an

appropriations act.

30 The FY2001 Energy and Water bill was attached to the FY2001 VA-HUD bill and the

FY2001 Leg. Branch and Treasury bills were attached to the FY2001 Labor-HHS-Education

bill.

“Flood Control and Coastal Emergencies” account, that would be a transfer.

Agencies are prohibited from making such transfers without specific statutory

authority.

In contrast, agencies may generally shift budget authority from one activity to

another within an account without such statutory authority; this activity is referred

to as reprogramming.

29 The appropriations subcommittees have established

notification and other oversight procedures for the various agencies to follow

regarding reprogramming actions. Generally, these procedures differ with each

subcommittee.

Congress has traditionally considered and enacted each regular appropriations

bill separately. Over the past 26 years (FY1977-FY2002), Congress has used two

other practices as well. During 14 of those years, Congress generally began

consideration of 13 separate bills, but ultimately packaged two or more regular

appropriations bills together in one measure, or, in the case of FY2001, into two

measures.30

Packaging regular appropriations bills can be an efficient means of resolving

outstanding differences within Congress and between Congress and the President.

The negotiators can make more convenient trade-offs between issues among several

bills.

Packaging, as Table 1 shows, was used for 9 consecutive fiscal years beginning

in FY1980. The first two of those years (FY1980-FY1981) occurred while President

Jimmy Carter was in the White House, while the remaining seven were during

Ronald Reagan’s presidency. Since that time, it has been used five times — all

during President William Jefferson Clinton’s presidency (FY1996-FY1997 and

FY1999-FY2001). No regular appropriation bills where packaged while George

Bush was President (FY1990-FY1993) or during the first year of George W. Bush’s

presidency.

Congress has also used another practice: instead of providing funding for the

entire fiscal year in regular appropriations bills, at times it has provided the entire

funding in continuing resolutions (see the discussion on full-year continuing

resolutions in Continuing Resolutions below).

Distribution of Funding Among Regular Appropriations Bills.

Congress divides budget authority and the resulting outlays into two categories:

discretionary and mandatory spending. Appropriations measures include both types

of spending. Discretionary spending is controlled by annual appropriations acts,

which are under the jurisdiction of the House and Senate Appropriations 
CRS-12

Committees. Mandatory spending is controlled by legislative acts under the

jurisdiction of the authorizing committees (principally the House Ways and Means

and Senate Finance Committees).

Table 1. Number of Regular Appropriations Bills Packaged in a

Single Measure, FY1977-FY2002

Fiscal Year Presidential Administration Number of Bills Packaged

1977 Gerald Ford 0 

1978 Jimmy Carter 0 

1979 0 

1980 2 

1981 5 

1982 Ronald Reagan 3 

1983 6 

1984 3 

1985 8 

1986 7 

1987 13 

1988 13 

1989 0 

1990 George Bush 0 

1991 0 

1992 0 

1993 0 

1994 William Clinton 0 

1995 0 

1996 5 

1997 6 

1998 0 

1999 8 

2000 5 

2001 2,3a

2002 George W. Bush 0

Sources: U.S. Congress, Senate Committee on Appropriations, Appropriations, Budget Estimates,

Etc., committee prints, 94th Cong., 2nd sess.-103rd Cong., 2nd sess. (Washington: GPO, 1976-1994);

and U.S. Congress, House, Calendars of the U.S. House of Representatives and History of Legislation,

94th-107th Congresses (Washington: GPO, 1976-2002).

a. The FY2001 Energy and Water Development bill was attached to the FY2001 VA-HUD. The

FY2001 Leg. Branch and Treasury bills were attached to the FY2001 Labor-HHS-Education

bill.
CRS-13

31 Entitlements are statutory requirements that government payments be made to any

individual or unit of government that meets eligibility criteria established in the law.

Entitlements are a binding obligation on the government and eligible recipients have legal

recourse if the obligation is not met. Examples of entitlements include Social Security

benefits, Medicare benefits, federal retirement benefits, and unemployment compensation.

Discretionary spending provides funds for a wide variety of activities, such as

those described in the Introduction, while mandatory spending predominantly

provides funds for entitlement programs.31 Of total actual outlays for FY2001, only

34% was discretionary spending; the remaining 65% was mandatory spending.

All new budget authority in discretionary spending is provided in annual

appropriations measures. Some new budget authority in mandatory spending,

predominantly appropriated entitlements, is also provided in appropriations

measures. 

Appropriated entitlements are funded through a two-step process. First,

authorizing legislation is enacted to set program parameters (through eligibility

requirements and benefit levels, for example); then the Appropriations Committees

must provide the budget authority needed to meet the commitment. The

Appropriations Committees have little control over the amount of budget authority

provided, since the amount needed is the result of previously enacted commitments

in authorization law. For FY2001, approximately 65% of the outlays allocated to the

Appropriations Committees was discretionary spending, while the remaining 35%

was mandatory spending.

Instead of directly controlling outlays, Congress controls discretionary spending

by setting levels of new budget authority for specific activities, programs, and

agencies in annual appropriations measures. Congress could, for example, provide

$2.5 billion in new budget authority to build the four ships in the example mentioned

earlier, instead of $3 billion.

Congress also controls mandatory spending by controlling budget authority. It

does not, however, generally control this form of budget authority by setting specific

spending levels. It controls mandatory spending by establishing parameters for

government commitments in permanent law, such as Social Security benefit levels

and eligibility requirements.

Table 2 provides the distribution of enacted FY2001 discretionary spending by

appropriations subcommittee, as of December 26, 2000. Three appropriations

subcommittees (Defense, Labor-HHS-Education, and VA-HUD) had jurisdiction

over most of the new discretionary budget authority (76%); one of three, the Defense

subcommittee, had jurisdiction over almost half of the discretionary spending. For

FY2001, the Defense subcommittee had 45% of all the discretionary new BA; the

Labor-HHS-Education bill, 17%; and the VA-HUD bill, 13%. Ten subcommittees

had jurisdiction over the remaining 24% of new discretionary budget authority.
CRS-14

Table 2. Distribution of FY2001 Enacted Discretionary Spending

by Appropriations Subcommittee

(new budget authority in billions of dollars)

Subcommittee Amount Percentage of

Total

Agriculture 18.7 3.0

Commerce-Justice-State 37.5 5.9

Defense 287.4 45.4

District of Columbia 0.5 0.1

Energy and Water Development 23.6 3.7

Foreign Operations 14.9 2.4

Interior 18.9 3.0

Labor-HHS-Education 108.9 17.2

Legislative Branch 2.7 0.4

Military Construction 5.0 0.8

Transportation 16.8 2.7

Treasury 15.6 2.5

VA-HUD 82.7 13.1

Totala 633.2 100.2

Source: U.S. Congressional Budget Office, CBO’s Current Status of Discretionary Appropriations:

FY2001 Senate Current Status of Discretionary Appropriations, Dec. 26, 2000, [http://www.cbo.gov]

visited Jan. 30, 2001. 

a. Total percentage does not equal 100.0 due to rounding.

Continuing Resolutions

If action on one or more regular appropriations measures has not been

completed by the beginning of the fiscal year, the agencies funded by these bills must

cease nonessential activities due to lack of budget authority. Traditionally,

continuing appropriations have been used to maintain temporary funding to agencies

or programs until the regular bills are enacted. Such appropriations continuing

funding are usually provided in a joint resolution, hence the term continuing

resolution.

In November and again in December 1995, FY1996 continuing resolutions

expired and some regular appropriations bills had not been enacted. As a result,

nonessential activities stopped and federal workers hired to perform those services

did not report for duty.

In 22 of the past 26 years (FY1977-FY2002), Congress and the President have

not completed action on a majority of the separate regular bills by the start of the
CRS-15

32 For FY1997, Congress and the President completed all 13 regular bills on time because

they packaged six bills together.

fiscal year.32 In 7 years, they did not finish any of the bills by the deadline. They

completed action on all 13 bills on schedule only three times.

Traditionally, Congress passes a few short-term continuing resolutions to

provide funding until action is completed on all the regular bills. In contrast to

funding practices in regular appropriations bills (i.e., providing appropriations for

each account), short-term continuing resolutions generally provide funding with

formulas. For example, the short-term continuing resolution could provide that

funding levels for each activity in the regular bills covered will be the lowest of the

following: the amount provided last year, the amount provided in the House-passed

bill, or the amount provided in the Senate-passed bill. Short-term continuing

resolutions frequently base the formulas on the latest House and Senate action on the

regular bills covered.

In addition to short-term continuing resolutions, Congress also sometimes

enacts full-year continuing resolutions. These measures provide full-year funding in

the continuing resolution for the outstanding regular bills, instead of eventually

enacting each regular bill separately. In 13 of the past 26 years, Congress has enacted

full-year continuing resolutions (see Table 3). Recently, the funding method for

these continuing resolutions is similar to the regular bills; formulas are not used.

During the FY1996 budget confrontation between the 104th Congress and the

Clinton Administration, Congress used a another type of continuing resolution.

Traditionally, continuing resolutions provide funding for all activities in the

outstanding regular appropriations bills. However, in 1996, Congress provided

targeted appropriations which separated activities from the outstanding regular bills

and distributed them among three continuing resolutions. Congress distributed

funding for activities in four of the six outstanding regular bills among the three

continuing resolutions. Funding for most of the activities in the fifth regular bill

(Foreign Operations) were provided in one of these continuing resolutions and

funding for the most of the activities in the sixth bill (District of Columbia) in

another.

For 24 of the past 26 years, Congress enacted on average three continuing

resolutions per year. However, for FY1996, Congress enacted 14 continuing

resolutions and, for FY2001, Congress enacted 21.
CRS-16

Table 3. Number of Regular Appropriations Bills Enacted

Separately and in Continuing Resolutions (CRs),

FY1977-FY2002

Fiscal

Year

Presidential

Administration

Enacted

Separately

Enacted in Continuing

Resolution

1977 Gerald Ford 13 0

1978 Jimmy Carter 12 1

1979 12 1

1980 10 3

1981 8 5a

1982 Ronald Reagan 9 4

1983 6 7

1984 10 3

1985 5 8

1986 6 7

1987 0 13

1988 0 13

1989 13 0

1990 George Bush 13 0

1991 13 0

1992 12 1

1993 13 0

1994 William Clinton 13 0

1995 13 0

1996 8b 5

1997 7c 0

1998 13 0

1999 5d 0

2000 8e 0

2001 8f 0

2002 George W. Bush 13 0

Sources: U.S. Congress, House, Calendars of the U.S. House of Representatives and History of

Legislation, 94th-107th Congresses (Washington: GPO, 1976-2002); and U.S. Congress, Senate

Committee on Appropriations, Appropriations, Budget Estimates, Etc., committee prints, 94th Cong.,

2nd sess.-103rd Cong., 2nd sess., (Washington: GPO, 1976-1985).

a. Congress provided full-year funding for five regular bills in a supplemental appropriations and

rescissions bill. The supplemental included a simple extension of a CR to the end of the fiscal

year.

b. An FY1996 continuing resolution (P.L. 104-99) provided full-year funding for the FY1996 foreign

operations regular bill; however, the continuing resolution provided that the foreign operations

measure be enacted separately (P.L. 104-107). It is included in this amount.

c. Six regular bills were packaged in one omnibus regular bill. They were not funded in a full-year

CR.

d. Eight regular bills were packaged in one omnibus regular bill, not a full-year CR.

e. Five regular bills were packaged in one omnibus regular bill, not a full-year CR.

f. One regular bill was packaged in second bill and two regular bills were packaged in another bill, not

a full-year CR.
CRS-17

33 The congressional budget process was established by the Congressional Budget Act. 2

U.S.C. 601-688 (1988 & Supp. IV 1992); P.L. 93-344 (88 Stat. 297); amended by the

Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, P.L. 99-177 (99 Stat. 1037,

1038); further amended by the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control

Reaffirmation Act of 1987, P.L. 100-119 (101 Stat. 754); further amended by the Budget

Enforcement Act of 1990, P.L. 101-508 (104 Stat. 1388-573 to 1388-630); further amended

by the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993, P.L. 103-66 (107 Stat. 312); and further

amended by the Budget Enforcement Act of 1997, P.L. 105-33 (111 Stat. 251).

Supplementals

During the fiscal year, Congress frequently considers one or more supplemental

appropriations measures that provide additional funds for specified activities. For

example, during FY1998 (the spring of calendar year 1998), Congress considered one

FY1998 supplemental. Supplementals may provide funding for unforeseen needs,

such as funds to recover from an earthquake or flood, or to increase or provide

funding for other programs. Sometimes Congress includes supplemental

appropriations in regular bills and continuing resolutions. Supplemental

appropriations measures provide appropriations by account and may include

earmarks.

During calendar year 1998, the following appropriations measures were enacted

into law:

! One FY1998 supplemental;

! Five FY1999 separate regular appropriations bills; 

! Eight FY1999 packaged in the FY1999 omnibus bill; and

! Six FY1999 short-term continuing resolutions.

Spending Ceilings for Appropriations Measures

Congress has established two processes for establishing and enforcing spending

ceilings for appropriations measures. First, Congress established the congressional

budget process through which it annually sets spending ceilings associated with the

budget resolution and enforces those ceilings with parliamentary rules, or points of

order, during congressional consideration of appropriations bills.33 Second, Congress

established the sequestration process. Under this process, Congress by statute has

established certain discretionary spending ceilings that are enforced by automatic
CRS-18

34 A sequestration process was originally established by the Balanced Budget and

Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (or Gramm-Rudman-Hollings)(P.L. 99-177, 99 Stat.

1037, 1038). Congress enacted major revisions in the Balanced Budget and Emergency

Deficit Control Reaffirmation Act of 1987 (P.L. 100-119, 101 Stat. 754). As an amendment

to Gramm-Rudman-Hollings, Congress established the current sequestration process in the

Budget Enforcement Act of 1990 (P.L. 101-508, 104 Stat. 1388-573 to 1388-630). This Act

was subsequently amended by the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 (P.L. 103-

66, 107 Stat. 312); Budget Enforcement Act of 1997 (P.L. 105-33, 111 Stat. 251); Adoption

and Safe Families Act of 1997( P.L. 105-89, 111 Stat. 2125); Transportation Equity Act for

the 21st Century (P.L. 105-178, 112 Stat. 107); Internal Revenue Service Restructuring and

Reform Act of 1998 (P.L. 105-206, 112 Stat. 685); Foreign Operations, Export Financing,

Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2001 (P.L. 106-429, 114 Stat. 1900); and Department

of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2001 (P.L. 106-291, 114 Stat.

922).

35 This refers to section 302(a) of the Congressional Budget Act. Typically, these are

provided in the joint explanatory statement that accompany the conference report to the

budget resolution.

36 Section 314 of the Congressional Budget Act requires the House and Senate Budget

Committees to make adjustments to the 302(a) allocations for funds provided for specified

activities within certain limitations. Adjustments are provided for funds designated as

emergency spending under the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act (see

Emergency-Designated Discretionary Spending) as well as the following activities: 

continuing disability reviews, earned income tax credit compliance initiatives, International

Monetary Fund, and adoption incentive payments.

37 This refers to section 302(b) of the Congressional Budget Act.

across-the-board reductions if enacted spending exceeds the ceilings.34 The

sequestration process expires after September 30, 2002.

Budget Resolution

Allocations. As mentioned previously, the budget resolution distributes the

total new budget authority and outlays among the House and Senate committees with

jurisdiction over spending, including the House and Senate Appropriations

Committees. Through this allocation process, the budget resolution sets total

spending ceilings for each House and Senate committee (referred to as the 302(a)

allocations).35 Table 4 provides 302(a) allocations, as adjusted, to the House and

Senate Appropriations Committees for FY2000.36

After the Appropriations Committees receive their 302(a) allocations, they

divide their allocations among their 13 subcommittees. This subdivision is referred

to as the 302(b) allocations.

37 Table 5 provides the Senate Appropriations

Committee’s 302(b) subdivision of discretionary, mandatory, and total spending for

FY2002. Making 302(b) allocations is within the jurisdiction of the House and

Senate Appropriations Committees, and they typically make revisions to reflect

action on the appropriations bills.
CRS-19

Table 4. FY2002 Appropriations Committees’ 

302(a) Allocations

(in billions of dollars)

Spending Category House Senate

Discretionary

 General Purpose

 New Budget Authority — 546.945

 Outlays — 537.091

 Conservation

 New Budget Authority — 1.760

 Outlays — 1.232

 Highways

 Outlays — 28.489

 Mass Transit

 Outlays — 5.275

 Total Discretionarya

 New Budget Authority 661.300 (548.705)

 Outlays 682.776 (572.087)

Mandatoryb

 New Budget Authority 357.786 358.567

 Outlays 350.418 350.837

Total

 New Budget Authority — 907.272

 Outlays — 922.924

Sources: U.S. Congress, Conference Committees, 2001, Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for

Fiscal Year 2002, conference report to accompany H.Con.Res. 83, 107th Cong., 1st sess., H.Rept. 107-

60 (Washington: GPO, 2001), pp. 78 and 83.

a. During consideration of the budget resolution, Congress agreed to discretionary spending levels that

were reflected in the 302(a) allocations to the House Appropriations Committee. The

Congressional Budget Act prohibits 302(a) allocations to the Senate Appropriations Committee

from exceeding the sequestration discretionary spending ceilings. The lower Senate 302(a)

allocations were the FY2002 discretionary spending ceilings at that time. Subsequently,

Congress statutorily increased the sequestration ceilings higher than the budget resolution

agreement and the Senate Budget Committee revised the 302(a) allocations up to the new

ceilings.

b. The differences between the House and Senate Committees’ mandatory amounts reflect differing

score keeping practices.
CRS-20

Table 5. Senate Appropriations Committee’s 302(b) Allocations for FY2002

(in billions of dollars)

Discretionary Spending Category

General Purpose

Subcommittee Defense Non-defense Total Conservation Highway

Mass

Transit Mandatory Totala

Agriculture New Budget Authority 16.092 16.092 43.112 59.204 Outlays 16.041 33.847 49.888Commerce-Justice-State New Budget Authority .604 37.772 38.376 .384 .572 39.332 Outlays 38.932 .319 .581 39.832Defense New Budget Authority 185.973 185.973 .282 186.255 Outlays 181.003 .282 181.285District of Columbia New Budget Authority .392 .392 .392 Outlays .412 .412Energy and WaterDevelopment New Budget Authority 15.416 9.713 25.129 25.129 Outlays 24.916 24.916Foreign Operations New Budget Authority 15.524 15.524 .045 15.569 Outlays 15.188 .045 15.233Interior New Budget Authority 17.151 17.151 1.376 .059 18.586 Outlays 16.743 .913 .077 17.733Labor-HHS-Education New Budget Authority 119.000 119.000 272.937 391.937
CRS-21

Discretionary Spending Category

General Purpose

Subcommittee Defense Non-defense Total Conservation Highway

Mass

Transit Mandatory Totala

 Outlays 107.513 272.968 380.481Legislative Branch New Budget Authority 3.055 3.055 .099 3.154 Outlays 2.968 .099 3.067Military Construction New Budget Authority 9.649 9.649 9.649 Outlays 9.284 9.284Transportation New Budget Authority .695 14.884 15.579 – .915 14.664 Outlays 19.104 28.489 5.275 .801 19.905Treasury-Postal Service New Budget Authority 16.972 16.972 15.478 32.450 Outlays 16.196 15.475 31.671VA-HUD New Budget Authority .138 83.915 84.053 26.898 110.951 Outlays 88.791 26.662 115.453Total New Budget Authority 212.475 334.470 546.945 1.760 358.567 907.272 Outlays 537.091 1.232 28.489 5.275 350.837 922.924Source: U.S. Congress, Senate Committee on Appropriations, Allocation to Subcommittees of Budget Totals from the Concurrent Resolution for Fiscal Year 2002,

107th Cong., 1st sess., S.Rept. 107-34 (Washington: GPO, 2001), p. 3.

a. Includes discretionary and mandatory spending.
CRS-22

38 These refer to sections 302(f) and 311(a), respectively, of the Congressional Budget Act.

39 It does not effect increased mandatory spending that the appropriators are required to

provide. For example, if the House Appropriations Committee was required to increase new

budget authority for unemployment compensation due to a recession, such budget authority

would not be subject to the point of order.

40 Although the 302(f) point of order in the House enforces new budget authority ceilings,

under House rules certain offset amendments must remain within the total new budget

authority and outlay levels provided in the bill. Due to the 302(f) point of order, Members

frequently must decrease budget authority in a bill for certain activities in order to finance

increases in funding for other activities in order to stay within the 302(a) or 302(b)

allocations (the decreases are referred to as offsets.) An amendment providing both the

increases and decreases is referred to as an offset amendment. Frequently, the increases and

offsets Members prefer are not located in the same place in the bill, and the affected

segments would normally be considered at different times on the House floor.

Offset amendments that amend the text of the bill in more than one place must remain

within the total new budget authority and outlay levels provided in the bill (House Rule

XXI, clause 2(f)). An offset amendment added at the end of a bill that indirectly effects

earlier provisions in the bill would not fall under the procedure provided in Rule XXI,

clause 2(f). However it would still be subject to requirements in section 302. That is, it may

not cause the bill to exceed new budget authority allocations made pursuant to 302(a) or (b).

(For more information, see CRS Report RL31055, House Offset Amendments to

Appropriations Bills: Procedural Considerations, by Sandy Streeter.)

Enforcement of Budget Resolution Ceilings. Certain spending ceilings

associated with the budget resolution are enforced through points of order raised on

the House and Senate floor when the appropriations measures are brought up for

consideration. Points of order are not self-enforcing. A Representative or Senator

must raise a point of order that a measure, amendment, or conference report violates

a specific rule. Generally, if a Member raises a Congressional Budget Act point of

order and the presiding officer rules that the measure, amendment, or conference

report violates the parliamentary rule, it may not be considered on the floor.

House. Two key House points of order are the 302(f) and 311(a).

38 These

points of order apply to all appropriations measures reported by the committee as

well as amendments and conference reports to the measures.

The 302(f) point of order prohibits floor consideration of appropriations that

exceed the committee or subcommittee allocations of new budget authority (the

302(a) or 302(b) allocations, respectively). In effect, this point of order applies to

total discretionary spending (and any mandatory spending changes initiated on the

appropriations measures).39 For example, if Table 5 had been the House

Appropriations Committee’s 302(b), the reported FY2002 Agriculture bill could not

have exceeded the Agriculture subcommittee’s total discretionary spending allocation

for FY2002—$16.092 billion.40

The 311(a) point of order prohibits floor consideration of appropriations that

would exceed the total new budget authority or outlay ceilings in the budget

resolution. As various spending bills for a fiscal year are enacted, the amount of total

new budget authority enacted and the resulting outlays accumulate and the budget

resolution ceilings are eventually reached. An appropriations bill that would go over
CRS-23

41 In the House, the Fazio Exception exempts certain appropriations from the 311(a) point

of order. If the total for appropriations bills remains within the Appropriations Committee’s

total allocation, the appropriations are excepted from the 311(a) point of order (see §311(c)

of the Congressional Budget Act, as amended).

42 These refer to sections 302(f), 312(b), and 311(a), respectively, of the Congressional

Budget Act.

43 In both the House and Senate certain appropriations provisions are exempt from the

Congressional Budget Act points of order. If a specific appropriation is designated as an

emergency under the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act, the

appropriation is not subject to the points of order. The Congressional Budget Act also

provides allowances for continuing disability reviews, earned income tax credit compliance

initiatives, adoption incentive payments, the International Monetary Fund, and arrearages

for international organizations, international peacekeeping, and multilateral development

banks.

either of the ceilings is subject to the 311(a) point of order. If all the spending bills

stay within their committee spending ceilings, a bill will not exceed the total ceilings

established in the budget resolution. However, in the past, some spending bills have

exceeded their committee ceilings, thereby making bills subject to the 311(a) point

of order. This point of order typically affects the last funding measures considered

for a fiscal year (such as the supplementals).41

The House may waive or suspend either of these points of order by adopting, by

majority vote, a special rule waiving the particular point of order prior to floor

consideration of the appropriations bill.

Senate. Three key Senate points of order are the 302(f), 312(b), and 311(a).

42

These points of order apply to all appropriations measures, both those reported by the

committee and amended on the floor. They also apply to amendments, motions, and

conferences reports to these measures.

In the Senate, the 302(f) point of order prohibits floor consideration of

appropriations that exceed the subcommittee allocations in total new budget

authority, total outlays, and each discretionary spending limit category in new budget

authority and outlays (see Table 5). As in the House, this point of order, in effect,

applies to total discretionary spending (and any mandatory spending changes initiated

on the appropriations measures).

The 312(b) point of order prohibits floor consideration of appropriations that

exceed any of the total discretionary spending limit categories (see the bottom row

in Table 5). The 311 point of order in the Senate is the same as in the House;

however, it does not include the Fazio Exception.

Senators may make motions to waive any of these points of order at the time the

issue is raised. Currently, a vote of three-fifths of all Senators (usually 60 Senators)

is required in the Senate to approve a waiver motion for any of these points of

order.43 These super-majority vote requirements expire on September 30, 2002. The
CRS-24

44 U.S. Congress, Conference Committees, 2000, Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for

Fiscal Year 2001, conference report to accompany H. Con. Res. 290, 106th Cong., 2nd sess.,

H.Rept. 106-577 (Washington: GPO, 2000), section 205.

requirements apply to FY2002 and FY2003 appropriations measures considered on

or before September 30, 2002, but do not apply to appropriations measures

considered after that date.

Emergency-Designated Discretionary Spending. Any discretionary

spending provided in appropriations measures, amendments, and conference reports

that is designated as emergency spending under the Balanced Budget and Emergency

Deficit Control Act is effectively exempt from Congressional Budget Act points of

order.

Congress typically includes its emergency-designate language after the

appropriation to be protected. In the Senate, such designations for non-defense

discretionary spending are subject to a point of order.44 In order to waive this point

of order, a three-fifths vote is required. This super-majority vote requirement is

permanent. In the House, emergency-designate language in amendments is subject

to House Rule XXI, clause 2(c), which prohibits legislation (see Relationship

Between Authorization and Appropriations Measures below).

Any discretionary spending that both Congress and the President designate as

emergency spending under the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act

is effectively exempt from sequestration (see below). The discretionary spending

limits are automatically adjusted to compensate for the emergency-designated

spending. Emergency-designations were originally designed as a safety valve so that

discretionary spending for emergencies, such as disaster assistance, could be

expeditiously enacted.

Sequestration Process

Under this process, Congress by statute has established certain discretionary

spending ceilings that are enforced by automatic across-the-board reductions if

enacted spending exceeds the ceilings. The sequestration process expires after

September 30, 2002.
CRS-25

45 The Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act established several categories

through FY2002. The Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century established separate

categories for highway and mass transit activities from FY1999 - FY2003 (see P.L. 105-178,

112 Stat. 107). The Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act,

2001, established an overall conservation category and divided it into six subcategories for

FY2002 - FY2006 (see P.L. 106-291, 114 Stat. 922). The subcategories are: Federal and

State Land and Water Conservation Fund; State and Other Conservation; Urban and Historic

Preservation; Payments in Lieu of Taxes; Federal Deferred Maintenance; and Coastal

Assistance.

46 OMB is an agency in the Executive Office of the President. Its duties include assisting

the President in preparing the budget and formulating the government’s fiscal program,

making recommendations regarding budget proposals and relevant legislation, and

controlling the administration of the federal budget. U.S. National Archives and Records

Administration, Office of the Federal Register, The United States Government Manual

1994/1995 (Washington: GPO, July 1994), pp. 97-99.

47 The adjustments are the amounts of certain enacted appropriations for those activities

described in footnote 45 plus allowances for estimating differences in outlays, changes in

concepts and definitions, and allowances for conservation funds.

Congress established in statute discretionary spending limits generally in both

new budget authority and outlays for FY1991 through FY2002 (for an example, see

Table 6).45 The Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act requires the

Office of Management and Budget (OMB)46 to make specific periodic adjustments

to the discretionary spending limits.47

Table 6. FY2002 Discretionary Spending Limits

as of January 2002 (billions of dollars)

Discretionary Spending Category FY2002

General Purpose

 New Budget Authority 704.548

 Outlays 696.092

Conservationa

 New Budget Authority 1.735

 Outlays 1.469

Highway

 Outlays 28.489

Mass Transit

 Outlays 5.275

Source: U.S. Executive Office of the President, Office of Management and Budget, Analytical

Perspectives, Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2003 (Washington: Jan. 2002),

pp. 288-289.

a. There are also six conservation subcategories in new budget authority and the resulting outlays.
CRS-26

48 Sequestration will be triggered 15 days after enactment.

49 The FY2001 military construction appropriations act exempted FY2000 supplemental

appropriations included in the act from this procedure (see sec. 5107, P.L. 106-246, 114

(continued...)

These spending limits are enforced through sequestration. If Congress enacts

appropriations measures that exceed either the general purpose or conservation

discretionary spending limits in new budget authority or outlays, the President is

required to issue an order providing for an automatic across-the-board reduction to

eliminate the excess within that category. This automatic reduction permanently

cancels budget authority and other budgetary resources for nonexempt programs. If

the highway or mass transit outlay limits are exceeded, the amount over the limit is

added to the general purpose outlay category for sequestration purposes.

Table 7 provides a possible FY2002 sequestration scenario. For FY2002,

Congress established separate discretionary spending limits in new budget authority

and outlays for general purpose, which includes defense and most non-defense

spending, and for conservation activities. It also established discretionary spending

limits in outlays for highway and mass transit activities. OMB compares each limit

to the total enacted amount funding the particular activities. The enacted amount for

the general purpose category is estimated to produce budget authority that exceed the

limit by $10 billion.

Table 7. FY2002 Sequestration Scenario

(in billions of dollars)

Discretionary Spending

Category Limit

Enacted

Amount Difference

Sequestered

Amount

General Purpose

 New budget authority 704.548 714.548 10 10

 Outlays 696.092 696.092 — —

Conservation

 New budget authority 1.735 1.735 — 1

 Outlays 1.469 1.469 — —

Highway

 Outlays 28.489 28.489 — —

Mass Transit

 Outlays 5.275 5.275 — —

During a calendar year, sequestration may occur for either of two separate fiscal

years. In the spring and summer, sequestration may occur if individual supplemental

appropriations acts enacted before July 1 exceed any of the discretionary spending

limits.48 Any such enactment occurring during the last quarter of the fiscal year (i.e.,

between July 1 and September 30), however, would not cause an automatic acrossthe-board reduction, but would instead cause the appropriate discretionary spending

limits for the next fiscal year to be reduced by the amount of the difference.49
CRS-27

49 (...continued)

Stat. 582).

50 This sequestration would occur on the same day as any sequestration tied to enforcement

of the “pay-as-you-go” procedure for mandatory spending and revenues measures. See CRS

Report 98-721, Introduction to the Federal Budget Process, by Robert Keith.

51 The House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee have

jurisdiction over some authorization measures, all revenue measures, and some mandatory

spending measures.

At the end of the session, sequestration may occur if the combined 13 regular

appropriations measures and continuing resolutions, as enacted, exceed the

discretionary spending limits.50 For example, if the total enacted FY2002 regular

bills had exceeded FY2002 limits, sequestration would have occurred, as

demonstrated in Table 7.

Relationship Between Authorization and

Appropriations Measures

Congress has established an authorization-appropriations process which

provides for two separate types of measures—authorization measures and

appropriations measures. These measures perform different functions and are to be

considered in sequence. First, the authorization measure is considered and then the

appropriations measure.

Authorization acts establish, continue, or modify agencies or programs. For

example, an authorization act may change the structure or establish or modify

programs within the Commerce Department. The authorization act also authorizes

appropriations for specific agencies and programs, frequently setting spending

ceilings for them. Authorization acts may provide permanent, annual, or multi-year

authorizations. Annual and multi-year authorization acts require re-authorizations

when they expire. Congress is not required to provide appropriations for an

authorized program.

Authorization measures are under the jurisdiction of authorizing committees

such as the House Transportation and Infrastructure and Education and the

Workforce Committees, or the Senate Judiciary and Energy and Natural Resources

Committees. Most congressional committees are authorizing committees. Major

non-authorization committees include the House and Senate appropriations and

budget committees.51

Appropriations measures provide new budget authority for the program, activity,

or agency previously authorized.

The authorization-appropriations process enforces separation of these functions

into separate measures with points of order prohibiting certain provisions in
CRS-28

52 House Rule XXI, clause 2; House Rule XXII, clause 5; and Senate Rule XVI. House rules

also prohibit appropriations in authorization measures, amendments, or conference reports

(Rule XXI, clause 4 and House Rule XXII, clause 5).

53 The special rule may provide a waiver for specified provisions or all provisions in the bill

that are subject to the point of order. The special rule may also provide a waiver for specific

amendments. Generally, special rules waive points of order against all provisions in all

conference reports on general appropriations measures.

appropriations measures.52 The House and Senate prohibit, in varying degrees,

language in appropriations bills providing unauthorized appropriations or legislation

on an appropriations bill (or riders). 

Unauthorized appropriations are new budget authority in an appropriations

measure for agencies or programs whose authorization has expired or was never

authorized, or whose budget authority exceeds the ceiling authorized. Riders refer

to language in appropriations measures that change existing law, such as establishing

new law, or amending or repealing current law.

House rules prohibit unauthorized appropriations and riders in regular

appropriations bills and supplementals, which provide funds for more than one

purpose or agency (referred to in the House as general appropriations bills).

However, House rules do not prohibit such language in continuing resolutions. The

House prohibition applies to bills reported by the House Appropriations Committee,

amendments, and conference reports. The House may adopt a special rule waiving

this rule prior to floor consideration of the appropriations bill or conference report.53

Unauthorized earmarks are allowed in House Appropriations Committee reports and

joint explanatory statements because the rule applies only to the text of the bills,

amendments, and conference reports.

In the Senate, unauthorized appropriations and riders are treated differently.

The Senate rule regarding such language applies to regular bills, supplementals which

provide funds for more than one purpose or agency, and continuing resolutions

(referred to in the Senate as general appropriations bills). 

This Senate rule applies only to amendments to general appropriations bills,

such as, those:

! Introduced on the Senate floor; 

! Reported by the Senate Appropriations Committee to the Housepassed measure; or Proposed as a substitute for the House-passed

text. 

This rule does not apply to provisions in Senate bills or conference reports. For

example, this rule did not apply to provisions in S. 1005, the FY1998 Defense

appropriations bill, as reported by the Senate Appropriations Committee. But it did

apply to provisions in H.R. 2107, the FY1998 Interior bill, as reported by the Senate
CRS-29

54 The Senate rule reflects Senate practices at the time the rule was established. As

mentioned earlier, the Senate Appropriations Committee traditionally reported amendments

to the House-passed appropriations bill, instead of reporting an original Senate bill.

Therefore, the rule’s prohibition only applies to amendments, both committee and floor

amendments. Recently, the Senate Appropriations Committee began reporting regularly

most or all of the bills as original Senate bills.

55 Under Senate precedents, an amendment containing a rider may be considered if it is

germane to language in the House-passed appropriations bill. That is, if the House opens

the door by passing a rider in an appropriations bill, the Senate has an “inherent right” to

amend it. However, if the Senate considers an original Senate bill, rather than the Housepassed bill with amendments, there is no House language to which a rider could be germane.

Therefore, the defense of germaneness is not available.

Appropriations Committee, since this version of the bill consisted of amendments to

the House-passed bill.54

The Senate rule is less restrictive than the House on unauthorized

appropriations. For example, the Senate Appropriations Committee may report

committee amendments containing unauthorized appropriations. An appropriation

is considered authorized if the Senate previously passes the authorization bill during

the same session of Congress. In contrast, in the House, the authorization bill must

be approved by both houses and signed by the President.

Although the Senate rule generally prohibits unauthorized appropriations in noncommittee amendments, Senators rarely raise this point of order because of

exceptions to the rule. Unauthorized earmarks are allowed in Senate Appropriations

Committee reports and joint explanatory statements, as in the House.

The Senate rule prohibits riders in both Senate Appropriations Committee

amendments and non-committee amendments.55 It also prohibits non-germane

amendments.

The division between an authorization and an appropriation is limited to

congressional consideration of appropriations measures. If unauthorized

appropriations or riders remain in a measure as enacted, either because no one raised

a point of order or the House or Senate waived the rules, the provision will have the

force of law. Again, unauthorized appropriations are generally available for

obligation or expenditure. 

Rescissions

Rescissions cancel previously enacted budget authority. To continue the earlier

example, after Congress enacts the $3 billion to construct the four ships, it may enact

legislation canceling the budget authority prior to its obligation. Rescissions are an

expression of changed or differing priorities. They may be used to offset increases

in budget authority for other activities.
CRS-30

56 Title X is referred to as the Impoundment Control Act. 

57 CRS Issue Brief 89148, Item Veto and Expanded Impoundment Proposals, by Virginia A.

McMurtry.

The President may recommend rescissions to Congress, but it is up to Congress

to act on them. Under Title X of the Congressional Budget Act,56 Congress must

pass a bill approving the President’s rescissions within 45 days of continuous session

of congress or the budget authority must be spent. 

In practice, this usually means that funds proposed for rescission not approved

by Congress must be made available for obligation after about 60 calendar days,

although the period can extend to 75 days or longer.57

In response to the President’s recommendation, Congress may decide not to

approve the amount specified by the President, approve the total amount, or approve

a different amount. In 1998, for instance, President Clinton proposed rescinding $2.1

million appropriated for maritime guaranteed loan subsidies. Congress did not

concur. Also in 1998, the President proposed rescinding $737,000 of the

appropriated funds for the Bureau of Indian Affair’s construction account. Congress,

in response, exceeded the President’s request and rescinded $837,000 of these funds

in the FY1998 Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act (P.L. 105-174).

Congress may also initiate rescissions. An example is the rescission of $11.2

million for FY1998 for the Health professions education fund included in the same

supplemental. Rescissions can be included in either separate rescission measures or

any of the three types of appropriations measures.
CRS-31

For Additional Reading

CRS Products

CRS Report RS20441, Advance Appropriations, Forward Funding, and Advance

Funding, by Sandy Streeter.

CRS Report 98-648, Appropriations Bills: What are “General Provisions?,” by

Sandy Streeter.

CRS Report 98-558, Appropriations Bills: What is Report Language?, by Sandy

Streeter.

CRS Report 97-947, The Appropriations Process and the Congressional Budget Act,

by James V. Saturno.

CRS Report 97-930, The Budget Enforcement Act of 1997: A Fact Sheet, by Robert

Keith.

CRS Report RS20398, Budget Sequesters: FY1986-2001, by Robert Keith.

CRS Report RL30297, Congressional Budget Resolutions: Selected Statistics and

Information Guide, by Bill Heniff.

CRS Report RS20095, The Congressional Budget Process: A Brief Overview, by

James V. Saturno.

CRS Report RL30343, Continuing Appropriations Acts: Brief Overview of Recent

Practices, by Sandy Streeter.

CRS Report RL31193, Discretionary Spending Limits for FY2002: A Procedural

Assessment, by Robert Keith.

CRS Report 98-518, Earmarks and Limitations in Appropriations Bills, by Sandy

Streeter.

CRS Report RS21035, Emergency Spending: Statutory and Congressional Rules, by

James V. Saturno.

CRS Report RL30619, Examples of Legislative Provisions in Omnibus

Appropriations Acts, by Robert Keith.

CRS Report RS20348, Federal Funding Gaps: A Brief Overview, by Robert Keith.

CRS Report 98-512, Formulation and Content of the Budget Resolution, by Bill

Heniff.

CRS Report 98-726, Government Performance and Results Act and the

Appropriations Process, by Sandy Streeter.
CRS-32

CRS Report RL31055, House Offset Amendments to Appropriations Bills:

Procedural Considerations, by Sandy Streeter.

CRS Report 98-721, Introduction to the Federal Budget Process, by Robert Keith.

CRS Report 95-563, The Legislative Process on the House Floor: An Introduction,

by Stanley Bach.

CRS Report 96-548, The Legislative Process on the Senate Floor: An Introduction,

by Stanley Bach.

CRS Report 97-865, Points of Order in the Congressional Budget Process, by James

V. Saturno.

CRS Report RS20752, Submission of the President’s Budget in Transition Years, by

Robert Keith.

CRS Report RS20005, Timetable for Sequestration Actions, by Bill Heniff.

CRS Info Pack 012B. Budget Process Info Pack, prepared by the Information

Research Division.

Congressional Hearings, Reports, and Documents

U.S. Congress. House. Constitution, Jefferson’s Manual, and Rules of the House

of Representatives, 106th Congress (or House Manual). H.Doc. 105-358, 105th

Cong., 2nd sess. Washington, 1999.

——. House Practice: A Guide to the Rules, Precedents and Procedures of the

House. 104th Cong., 2nd sess. Washington, 1996.

——. Procedure in the U.S. House of Representatives. 97th Cong., 2nd sess.

Washington, 1982.

——. Committee on the Budget. Compilation of Laws and Rules Relating to the

Congressional Budget Process (as amended through March 23, 2000). 106th

Cong., 2nd sess. Washington, 2000.

U.S. Congress. Senate. Riddick’s Senate Procedure. 101st Cong., 2nd sess.

Washington, 1992.
CRS-33

Selected World Wide Web Sites

Budget Laws and Rules, prepared by Senate Budget Committee

[http://www.senate.gov/~budget/democratic/budgetlaws.html]

Constitution, Jefferson’s Manual, and Rules of the House of Representatives, 106th

Congress (or House Manual)

[http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress/hrm.html]

CRS Guides to Congressional Processes: Federal Budget Process

[http://www.crs.gov/products/guides/guidehome.shtml]

Deschler’s Precedents of the U.S. House of Representatives

[http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress/house/precedents/deschler.html] 

Hinds’ Precedents (House)

[http://www.gpo.gov/congress/house/precedents/hinds/hinds.html]

House Practice: A Guide to the Rules, Precedents and Procedures of the House

[http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress/browse-hp.html]

Rules of the House

[http://www.house.gov/rules/house_rules.htm]

Standing Rules of the Senate

[http://rules.senate.gov/senaterules/menu.htm]