I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5442 

To amend the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 

to provide for a legislative line-item veto to expedite consideration of 

rescissions, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 9, 2018 

Mr. NORMAN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Budget, and in addition to the Committee on Rules, for 

a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 

consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 to provide for a legislative line-item 

veto to expedite consideration of rescissions, and for 

other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as ‘‘A Fast-Tracked Executive 

5 Rescission Review (AFTERR) of Appropriations Act of 

6 2018’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL CONSIDERATION OF PROPOSED 

2 RESCISSIONS AND DEFERRALS OF BUDGET 

3 AUTHORITY AND OBLIGATION LIMITATIONS. 

4 Title X of the Congressional Budget and Impound5 ment Control Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 621 et seq.) is amend6 ed by striking all of part B (except for sections 1015, 

7 1016, and 1013, which are transferred and redesignated 

8 as sections 1017, 1018, and 1019, respectively) and part 

9 C and by inserting after part A the following: 

10 ‘‘PART B—CONGRESSIONAL CONSIDERATION OF PRO11 POSED RESCISSIONS AND DEFERRALS OF BUDGET

12 AUTHORITY AND OBLIGATION LIMITATIONS

13 ‘‘CONGRESSIONAL CONSIDERATION OF PROPOSED RESCIS14 SIONS AND DEFERRALS OF BUDGET AUTHORITY AND

15 OBLIGATION LIMITATIONS

16 ‘‘SEC. 1011. (a) PROPOSED RESCISSIONS.—Within 

17 10 days after the enactment of any bill or joint resolution 

18 providing any funding, the President may propose, in the 

19 manner provided in subsection (b), the rescission of all or 

20 part of any dollar amount of such funding. 

21 ‘‘(b) SPECIAL MESSAGE.—If the President proposes 

22 that Congress rescind funding, the President shall trans23 mit a special message to Congress containing the informa24 tion specified in this subsection. 

25 ‘‘(1) PACKAGING OF REQUESTED RESCIS26 SIONS.—For each piece of legislation that provides 


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1 funding, the President shall request at most 2 pack2 ages of rescissions (but in the case of an omnibus 

3 appropriation measure 5 such packages) and the re4 scissions in each package shall apply only to funding 

5 contained in that legislation. The President shall not 

6 include the same rescission in both packages. 

7 ‘‘(2) TRANSMITTAL.—The President shall de8 liver each message requesting a package of rescis9 sions to the Secretary of the Senate if the Senate is 

10 not in session and to the Clerk of the House of Rep11 resentatives if the House is not in session. The 

12 President shall make a copy of the transmittal mes13 sage publicly available, and shall publish in the Fed14 eral Register a notice of the message and informa15 tion on how it can be obtained. 

16 ‘‘(3) CONTENTS OF SPECIAL MESSAGE.—For 

17 each request to rescind funding under this part, the 

18 transmittal message shall— 

19 ‘‘(A) specify— 

20 ‘‘(i) the dollar amount to be re21 scinded; 

22 ‘‘(ii) the agency, bureau, and account 

23 from which the rescission shall occur; 


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1 ‘‘(iii) the program, project, or activity 

2 within the account (if applicable) from 

3 which the rescission shall occur; 

4 ‘‘(iv) the amount of funding, if any, 

5 that would remain for the account, pro6 gram, project, or activity if the rescission 

7 request is enacted; and 

8 ‘‘(v) the reasons the President re9 quests the rescission; and 

10 ‘‘(B) designate each separate rescission re11 quest by number; and include proposed legisla12 tive text of an approval bill to accomplish the 

13 requested rescissions which may not include— 

14 ‘‘(i) any changes in existing law, other 

15 than the rescission of funding; or 

16 ‘‘(ii) any supplemental appropriations, 

17 transfers, or reprogrammings. 

18 ‘‘GRANTS OF AND LIMITATIONS ON PRESIDENTIAL

19 AUTHORITY

20 ‘‘SEC. 1012. (a) PRESIDENTIAL AUTHORITY TO

21 WITHHOLD FUNDING.—Notwithstanding any other provi22 sion of law and if the President proposes a rescission of 

23 funding under this part, the President may, subject to the 

24 time limits provided in subsection (c), temporarily with25 hold that funding from obligation. 


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1 ‘‘(b) WITHHOLDING AVAILABLE ONLY ONCE PER

2 PROPOSED RESCISSION.—Except as provided in section 

3 1019, the President may not invoke the authority to with4 hold funding granted by subsection (a) for any other pur5 pose. 

6 ‘‘(c) TIME LIMITS.—The President shall make avail7 able for obligation any funding withheld under subsection 

8 (a) on the earliest of— 

9 ‘‘(1) the day on which the President determines 

10 that the continued withholding or reduction no 

11 longer advances the purpose of legislative consider12 ation of the approval bill; 

13 ‘‘(2) the 30th day following the date of enact14 ment of the appropriations measure to which the ap15 proval bill relates; or 

16 ‘‘(3) the last day that the President determines 

17 the obligation of the funding in question can no 

18 longer be fully accomplished in a prudent manner 

19 before its expiration. 

20 ‘‘(d) DEFICIT REDUCTION.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Funds that are rescinded 

22 under this part shall be dedicated only to reducing 

23 the deficit or increasing the surplus. 

24 ‘‘(2) ADJUSTMENT OF LEVELS IN THE CONCUR25 RENT RESOLUTION ON THE BUDGET.—Not later 


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1 than 3 days of session after the date of enactment 

2 of an approval bill as provided under this part, the 

3 chairs of the Committees on the Budget of the Sen4 ate and the House of Representatives shall revise al5 locations and aggregates and other appropriate lev6 els under the appropriate concurrent resolution on 

7 the budget to reflect the rescissions, and the Com8 mittees on Appropriations of the House of Rep9 resentatives and the Senate shall report revised sub10 allocations pursuant to section 302(b) of title III, as 

11 appropriate. 

12 ‘‘(3) ADJUSTMENTS TO STATUTORY LIMITS.— 

13 Not later than 3 days after enactment of an ap14 proval bill provided under this section, the President 

15 shall revise downward by the amount of the rescis16 sions applicable limits under the Balanced Budget 

17 and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985. 

18 ‘‘PROCEDURES FOR EXPEDITED CONSIDERATION

19 ‘‘SEC. 1013. (a) EXPEDITED CONSIDERATION.— 

20 ‘‘(1) INTRODUCTION OF APPROVAL BILL.—The 

21 majority leader of each House or a designee shall 

22 (by request) introduce an approval bill as defined in 

23 section 1015 not later than the third day of session 

24 of that House after the date of receipt of a special 

25 message transmitted to the Congress under section 

26 1011(b). 


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1 ‘‘(2) CONSIDERATION IN THE HOUSE OF REP2 RESENTATIVES.— 

3 ‘‘(A) REFERRAL AND REPORTING.—Any 

4 committee of the House of Representatives to 

5 which an approval bill is referred shall report it 

6 to the House without amendment not later than 

7 the third legislative day after the date of its in8 troduction. If a committee fails to report the 

9 bill within that period or the House has adopt10 ed a concurrent resolution providing for ad11 journment sine die at the end of a Congress, 

12 such committee shall be automatically dis13 charged from further consideration of the bill 

14 and it shall be placed on the appropriate cal15 endar. 

16 ‘‘(B) PROCEEDING TO CONSIDERATION.— 

17 Not later than 3 legislative days after the ap18 proval bill is reported or a committee has been 

19 discharged from further consideration thereof, 

20 it shall be in order to move to proceed to con21 sider the approval bill in the House. Such a mo22 tion shall be in order only at a time designated 

23 by the Speaker in the legislative schedule within 

24 two legislative days after the day on which the 

25 proponent announces an intention to the House 


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1 to offer the motion provided that such notice 

2 may not be given until the approval bill is re3 ported or a committee has been discharged 

4 from further consideration thereof. Such a mo5 tion shall not be in order after the House has 

6 disposed of a motion to proceed with respect to 

7 that special message. The previous question 

8 shall be considered as ordered on the motion to 

9 its adoption without intervening motion. A mo10 tion to reconsider the vote by which the motion 

11 is disposed of shall not be in order. 

12 ‘‘(C) CONSIDERATION.—If the motion to 

13 proceed is agreed to, the House shall imme14 diately proceed to consider the approval bill in 

15 the House without intervening motion. The ap16 proval bill shall be considered as read. All 

17 points of order against the approval bill and 

18 against its consideration are waived. The pre19 vious question shall be considered as ordered on 

20 the approval bill to its passage without inter21 vening motion except 2 hours of debate equally 

22 divided and controlled by the proponent and an 

23 opponent and one motion to limit debate on the 

24 bill. A motion to reconsider the vote on passage 

25 of the approval bill shall not be in order. 


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1 ‘‘(3) CONSIDERATION IN THE SENATE.— 

2 ‘‘(A) COMMITTEE ACTION.—The appro3 priate committee of the Senate shall report 

4 without amendment the approval bill as defined 

5 in section 1015(2) not later than the third ses6 sion day after introduction. If a committee fails 

7 to report the approval bill within that period or 

8 the Senate has adopted a concurrent resolution 

9 providing for adjournment sine die at the end 

10 of a Congress, the Committee shall be auto11 matically discharged from further consideration 

12 of the approval bill and it shall be placed on the 

13 appropriate calendar. 

14 ‘‘(B) MOTION TO PROCEED.—Not later 

15 than 3 session days after the approval bill is re16 ported in the Senate or the committee has been 

17 discharged thereof, it shall be in order for any 

18 Senator to move to proceed to consider the ap19 proval bill in the Senate. The motion shall be 

20 decided without debate and the motion to re21 consider shall be deemed to have been laid on 

22 the table. Such a motion shall not be in order 

23 after the Senate has disposed of a prior motion 

24 to proceed with respect to the approval bill. 


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1 ‘‘(C) CONSIDERATION.—If a motion to 

2 proceed to the consideration of the approval bill 

3 is agreed to, the Senate shall immediately pro4 ceed to consideration of the approval bill with5 out intervening motion, order, or other busi6 ness, and the approval bill shall remain the un7 finished business of the Senate until disposed 

8 of. Consideration on the bill in the Senate 

9 under this subsection, and all debatable motions 

10 and appeals in connection therewith, shall not 

11 exceed 10 hours equally divided in the usual 

12 form. All points of order against the approval 

13 bill or its consideration are waived. Consider14 ation in the Senate on any debatable motion or 

15 appeal in connection with the approval bill shall 

16 be limited to not more than 1 hour. A motion 

17 to postpone, or a motion to proceed to the con18 sideration of other business, or a motion to re19 commit the approval bill is not in order. A mo20 tion to reconsider the vote by which the ap21 proval bill is agreed to or disagreed to is not in 

22 order. 

23 ‘‘(4) AMENDMENTS PROHIBITED.—No amend24 ment to, or motion to strike a provision from, an ap25 proval bill considered under this section shall be in 


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1 order in either the Senate or the House of Rep2 resentatives. 

3 ‘‘(5) COORDINATION WITH ACTION BY OTHER

4 HOUSE.— 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If, before passing the 

6 approval bill, one House receives from the other 

7 a bill— 

8 ‘‘(i) the approval bill of the other 

9 House shall not be referred to a com10 mittee; and 

11 ‘‘(ii) the procedure in the receiving 

12 House shall be the same as if no approval 

13 bill had been received from the other 

14 House until the vote on passage, when the 

15 bill received from the other House shall 

16 supplant the approval bill of the receiving 

17 House. 

18 ‘‘(B) This paragraph shall not apply to the 

19 House of Representatives. 

20 ‘‘(b) LIMITATION.—Subsection (a) shall apply only to 

21 an approval bill, as such term is defined in section 

22 1015(2), introduced pursuant to subsection (a)(1). 

23 ‘‘(c) EXTENDED TIME PERIOD.—If Congress ad24 journs at the end of a Congress prior to the expiration 

25 of the periods described in sections 1012(c)(2) and 1014 


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1 and an approval bill was then pending in either House 

2 of Congress or a committee thereof, or an approval bill 

3 had not yet been introduced with respect to a special mes4 sage, or before the applicable 10-day period specified in 

5 section 1011(a) has expired, then within the first 3 days 

6 of session, the President shall transmit to Congress an ad7 ditional special message containing all of the information 

8 in the previous, pending special message and an approval 

9 bill may be introduced within the first five days of session 

10 of the next Congress and shall be treated as an approval 

11 bill under this part, and the time periods described in sec12 tions 1012(c)(2) and 1014 shall commence on the day of 

13 introduction of that approval bill. 

14 ‘‘(d) APPROVAL BILL PROCEDURE.—In order for an 

15 approval bill to be considered under the procedures set 

16 forth in this part, the bill must meet the definition of an 

17 approval bill and must be introduced no later than the 

18 third day of session following the beginning of the period 

19 described in section 1013(a)(1) or the fifth day in the case 

20 of subsection (c). 

21 ‘‘(e) CBO ESTIMATE.—Upon receipt of a special 

22 message under section 1101 proposing to rescind all or 

23 part of any funding, CBO shall prepare and submit to the 

24 appropriate committees of the House of Representatives 

25 and the Senate an estimate of the reduction in budget auVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:02 Apr 09, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5442.IH H5442

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1 thority which would result from the enactment of the pro2 posed rescissions. 

3 ‘‘TREATMENT OF RESCISSIONS

4 ‘‘SEC. 1014. Rescissions proposed by the President 

5 under this part shall take effect only upon enactment of 

6 the applicable approval bill. If an approval bill is not en7 acted into law within 30 days from the enactment of the 

8 appropriation measure to which the approval bill relates, 

9 then the approval bill shall not be eligible for expedited 

10 consideration under the provisions of this part. 

11 ‘‘DEFINITIONS

12 ‘‘SEC. 1015. As used in this part: 

13 ‘‘(1) APPROPRIATION MEASURE.—The term 

14 ‘appropriation measure’ means an Act referred to in 

15 section 105 of title 1, United States Code, including 

16 any general or special appropriation Act, or any Act 

17 making supplemental, deficiency, or continuing ap18 propriations, that has been enacted into law pursu19 ant to article I, section 7, of the Constitution of the 

20 United States. 

21 ‘‘(2) APPROVAL BILL.—The term ‘approval bill’ 

22 means a bill which only approves rescissions of fund23 ing in a special message transmitted by the Presi24 dent under this part and— 

25 ‘‘(A) the title of which is as follows: ‘A bill 

26 approving the proposed rescissions transmitted 


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1 by the President on lll’, the blank space 

2 being filled in with the date of transmission of 

3 the relevant special message and the public law 

4 number to which the message relates; and 

5 ‘‘(B) which provides only the following 

6 after the enacting clause: ‘That the Congress 

7 approves the proposed rescissions lll’, the 

8 blank space being filled in with the list of the 

9 rescissions contained in the President’s special 

10 message, ‘as transmitted by the President in a 

11 special message on llll’, the blank space 

12 being filled in with the appropriate date, ‘re13 garding llll.’, the blank space being filled 

14 in with the public law number to which the spe15 cial message relates. 

16 ‘‘(3) RESCIND OR RESCISSION.—The terms ‘re17 scind’ or ‘rescission’ mean to permanently cancel or 

18 prevent budget authority or outlays available under 

19 an obligation limit from having legal force or effect. 

20 ‘‘(4) CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE.—The 

21 term ‘CBO’ means the Director of the Congressional 

22 Budget Office. 

23 ‘‘(5) COMPTROLLER GENERAL.—The term 

24 ‘Comptroller General’ means the Comptroller Gen25 eral of the United States. 


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1 ‘‘(6) DEFERRAL OF BUDGET AUTHORITY.—The 

2 term ‘deferral of budget authority’ includes— 

3 ‘‘(A) withholding or delaying the obliga4 tions or expenditure of budget authority 

5 (whether by establishing reserves or otherwise) 

6 provided for projects or activities; or 

7 ‘‘(B) any other type of Executive action or 

8 inaction which effectively precludes the obliga9 tion or expenditure of budget authority, includ10 ing authority to obligate by contract in advance 

11 of appropriations as specifically authorized by 

12 law. 

13 ‘‘(7) FUNDING.—(A) Except as provided in sub14 paragraph (B), the term ‘funding’ means all or part 

15 of the dollar amount of budget authority or obliga16 tion limit— 

17 ‘‘(i) specified in an appropriation measure, 

18 or the dollar amount of budget authority or ob19 ligation limit required to be allocated by a spe20 cific proviso in an appropriation measure for 

21 which a specific dollar figure was not included; 

22 ‘‘(ii) represented separately in any table, 

23 chart, or explanatory text included in the state24 ment of managers or the governing committee 

25 report accompanying such law; or 


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1 ‘‘(iii) represented by the product of the es2 timated procurement cost and the total quantity 

3 of items specified in an appropriation measure 

4 or included in the statement of managers or the 

5 governing committee report accompanying such 

6 law. 

7 ‘‘(B) The term ‘funding’ does not include— 

8 ‘‘(i) direct spending; 

9 ‘‘(ii) budget authority in an appropriation 

10 measure which funds direct spending provided 

11 for in other law; 

12 ‘‘(iii) any existing budget authority can13 celed in an appropriation measure; or 

14 ‘‘(iv) any restriction or condition in an ap15 propriation measure or the accompanying state16 ment of managers or committee reports on the 

17 expenditure of budget authority for an account, 

18 program, project, or activity, or on activities in19 volving such expenditure. 

20 ‘‘(8) WITHHOLD.—The terms ‘withhold’ and 

21 ‘withholding’ apply to any executive action or inac22 tion that precludes the obligation of funding at a 

23 time when it would otherwise have been available to 

24 an agency for obligation. The terms do not include 

25 administrative or preparatory actions undertaken 


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1 prior to obligation in the normal course of imple2 menting budget laws. 

3 ‘‘EXPIRATION

4 ‘‘SEC. 1016. On October 1, 2028, the amendments 

5 made by A Fast-Tracked Executive Rescission Review 

6 (AFTERR) of Appropriations Act of 2018 shall be re7 placed by the provisions of part B of the Impoundment 

8 Control Act of 1974 as in effect immediately before the 

9 date of enactment of A Fast-Tracked Executive Rescission 

10 Review (AFTERR) of Appropriations Act of 2018.’’. 

11 SEC. 3. TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS. 

12 (a) EXERCISE OF RULEMAKING POWERS.—Section 

13 904 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 

14 621 note) is amended— 

15 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘1017’’ and 

16 inserting ‘‘1013’’; and 

17 (2) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘section 

18 1017’’ and inserting ‘‘section 1013’’. 

19 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.—(1) The last sentence 

20 of section 1(a) of the Congressional Budget and Impound21 ment Control Act of 1974 is amended to read as follows: 

22 ‘‘Sections 1011 through 1016 of part B of title X may 

23 be cited as ‘A Fast-Tracked Executive Rescission Review 

24 (AFTERR) of Appropriations Act of 2018’.’’. 

25 (2) Section 1017 of such Act (as redesignated) is 

26 amended by striking ‘‘section 1012 or 1013’’ each place 


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1 it appears and inserting ‘‘section 1011 or 1019’’ and sec2 tion 1018 (as redesignated) is amended by striking ‘‘cal3 endar’’ and ‘‘of continuous session’’. 

4 (3) Section 1019(c) of such Act (as redesignated) is 

5 amended by striking ‘‘1012’’ and inserting ‘‘1011’’. 

6 (4) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents set 

7 forth in section 1(b) of the Congressional Budget and Im8 poundment Control Act of 1974 is amended by striking 

9 the items relating to parts B and C (including all of the 

10 items relating to the sections therein) of title X and insert11 ing the following: 

‘‘PART B—CONGRESSIONAL CONSIDERATION OF PROPOSED RESCISSIONS AND

DEFERRALS OF BUDGET AUTHORITY AND OBLIGATION LIMITATIONS

‘‘Sec. 1011. Congressional consideration of proposed rescissions and deferrals 

of budget authority and obligation limitations. 

‘‘Sec. 1012. Grants of and limitations on Presidential authority. 

‘‘Sec. 1013. Procedures for Expedited Consideration. 

‘‘Sec. 1014. Treatment of rescissions. 

‘‘Sec. 1015. Definitions. 

‘‘Sec. 1016. Expiration.’’. 

12 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

13 this Act shall apply to funding as defined in section 

14 1015(8) of the Congressional Budget Act and Impound15 ment Control of 1974 in any Act enacted after the date 

16 of enactment of this Act. 

17 SEC. 4. APPROVAL MEASURES CONSIDERED. 

18 Section 314 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 

19 is amended— 


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1 (1) by redesignating subsections (b) through (e) 

2 as subsections (c) through (f) and by inserting after 

3 subsection (a) the following new subsection: 

4 ‘‘(b) ADJUSTMENTS FOR RESCISSIONS.—(1) When5 ever an approval bill passes the House of Representatives, 

6 the Committee on the Budget shall immediately reduce the 

7 applicable allocations under section 302(a) by the total 

8 amount of reductions in budget authority and in outlays 

9 resulting from such approval bill. 

10 ‘‘(2) As used in this subsection, the term ‘approval 

11 bill’ has the meaning given to such term in section 1015.’’; 

12 and 

13 (2) in subsection (d) (as redesignated), by in14 serting ‘‘or (b)’’ after ‘‘subsection (a)’’. 

Æ 


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