A balanced budget is a budget in which income equals or exceeds spending. Most states require balanced budgets, but the federal government does not. A budget agreement is a complex accord between Congress and the White House to reduce deficit spending over a five-year period. The Balanced Budget agreement for 1997 set the parameters for a balanced budget. A budget resolution is a concurrent resolution, not a law, setting out the congressional spending priorities for the next five fiscal years.
Censure is the act of disciplining a fellow member through a vote of disapproval or condemnation.
This may be a reprimand, severe reprimand, censure, condemnation, or expulsion. Cloture is the process by which debate can be limited in the Senate without unanimous consent. It is often used to break filibusters. When invoked by roll call vote three fifths of those present and voting it limits each senator to one hour of debate. A conference committee is a panel of members from both the House and Senate, usually key members of the committees that handled the bill under consideration, given the job of working out a compromise between the usually different versions of a bill passed by the House and Senate.