Title: A Fast-Tracked Executive Rescission Review (AFTERR) of Appropriations Act of 2018
Policy area: Economics and Public Finance

Summary:
A Fast-Tracked Executive Rescission Review (AFTERR) of Appropriations Act of 2018
This bill amends the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 to establish expedited legislative procedures for congressional consideration of rescissions proposed by the President. (A rescission is legislation that cancels the availability of previously enacted budget authority before the authority would otherwise expire.)

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5442 Introduced in House (IH)]

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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.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as ``A Fast-Tracked Executive Rescission 
Review (AFTERR) of Appropriations Act of 2018''.

SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL CONSIDERATION OF PROPOSED RESCISSIONS AND 
              DEFERRALS OF BUDGET AUTHORITY AND OBLIGATION LIMITATIONS.

    Title X of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 
1974 (2 U.S.C. 621 et seq.) is amended by striking all of part B 
(except for sections 1015, 1016, and 1013, which are transferred and 
redesignated as sections 1017, 1018, and 1019, respectively) and part C 
and by inserting after part A the following:

   ``Part B--Congressional Consideration of Proposed Rescissions and 
        Deferrals of Budget Authority and Obligation Limitations

``congressional consideration of proposed rescissions and deferrals of 
              budget authority and obligation limitations

    ``Sec. 1011.  (a) Proposed Rescissions.--Within 10 days after the 
enactment of any bill or joint resolution providing any funding, the 
President may propose, in the manner provided in subsection (b), the 
rescission of all or part of any dollar amount of such funding.
    ``(b) Special Message.--If the President proposes that Congress 
rescind funding, the President shall transmit a special message to 
Congress containing the information specified in this subsection.
            ``(1) Packaging of requested rescissions.--For each piece 
        of legislation that provides funding, the President shall 
        request at most 2 packages of rescissions (but in the case of 
        an omnibus appropriation measure 5 such packages) and the 
        rescissions in each package shall apply only to funding 
        contained in that legislation. The President shall not include 
        the same rescission in both packages.
            ``(2) Transmittal.--The President shall deliver each 
        message requesting a package of rescissions to the Secretary of 
        the Senate if the Senate is not in session and to the Clerk of 
        the House of Representatives if the House is not in session. 
        The President shall make a copy of the transmittal message 
        publicly available, and shall publish in the Federal Register a 
        notice of the message and information on how it can be 
        obtained.
            ``(3) Contents of special message.--For each request to 
        rescind funding under this part, the transmittal message 
        shall--
                    ``(A) specify--
                            ``(i) the dollar amount to be rescinded;
                            ``(ii) the agency, bureau, and account from 
                        which the rescission shall occur;
                            ``(iii) the program, project, or activity 
                        within the account (if applicable) from which 
                        the rescission shall occur;
                            ``(iv) the amount of funding, if any, that 
                        would remain for the account, program, project, 
                        or activity if the rescission request is 
                        enacted; and
                            ``(v) the reasons the President requests 
                        the rescission; and
                    ``(B) designate each separate rescission request by 
                number; and include proposed legislative text of an 
                approval bill to accomplish the requested rescissions 
                which may not include--
                            ``(i) any changes in existing law, other 
                        than the rescission of funding; or
                            ``(ii) any supplemental appropriations, 
                        transfers, or reprogrammings.

         ``grants of and limitations on presidential authority

    ``Sec. 1012.  (a) Presidential Authority To Withhold Funding.--
Notwithstanding any other provision of law and if the President 
proposes a rescission of funding under this part, the President may, 
subject to the time limits provided in subsection (c), temporarily 
withhold that funding from obligation.
    ``(b) Withholding Available Only Once Per Proposed Rescission.--
Except as provided in section 1019, the President may not invoke the 
authority to withhold funding granted by subsection (a) for any other 
purpose.
    ``(c) Time Limits.--The President shall make available for 
obligation any funding withheld under subsection (a) on the earliest 
of--
            ``(1) the day on which the President determines that the 
        continued withholding or reduction no longer advances the 
        purpose of legislative consideration of the approval bill;
            ``(2) the 30th day following the date of enactment of the 
        appropriations measure to which the approval bill relates; or
            ``(3) the last day that the President determines the 
        obligation of the funding in question can no longer be fully 
        accomplished in a prudent manner before its expiration.
    ``(d) Deficit Reduction.--
            ``(1) In general.--Funds that are rescinded under this part 
        shall be dedicated only to reducing the deficit or increasing 
        the surplus.
            ``(2) Adjustment of levels in the concurrent resolution on 
        the budget.--Not later than 3 days of session after the date of 
        enactment of an approval bill as provided under this part, the 
        chairs of the Committees on the Budget of the Senate and the 
        House of Representatives shall revise allocations and 
        aggregates and other appropriate levels under the appropriate 
        concurrent resolution on the budget to reflect the rescissions, 
        and the Committees on Appropriations of the House of 
        Representatives and the Senate shall report revised 
        suballocations pursuant to section 302(b) of title III, as 
        appropriate.
            ``(3) Adjustments to statutory limits.--Not later than 3 
        days after enactment of an approval bill provided under this 
        section, the President shall revise downward by the amount of 
        the rescissions applicable limits under the Balanced Budget and 
        Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985.

                ``procedures for expedited consideration

    ``Sec. 1013.  (a) Expedited Consideration.--
            ``(1) Introduction of approval bill.--The majority leader 
        of each House or a designee shall (by request) introduce an 
        approval bill as defined in section 1015 not later than the 
        third day of session of that House after the date of receipt of 
        a special message transmitted to the Congress under section 
        1011(b).
            ``(2) Consideration in the house of representatives.--
                    ``(A) Referral and reporting.--Any committee of the 
                House of Representatives to which an approval bill is 
                referred shall report it to the House without amendment 
                not later than the third legislative day after the date 
                of its introduction. If a committee fails to report the 
                bill within that period or the House has adopted a 
                concurrent resolution providing for adjournment sine 
                die at the end of a Congress, such committee shall be 
                automatically discharged from further consideration of 
                the bill and it shall be placed on the appropriate 
                calendar.
                    ``(B) Proceeding to consideration.--Not later than 
                3 legislative days after the approval bill is reported 
                or a committee has been discharged from further 
                consideration thereof, it shall be in order to move to 
                proceed to consider the approval bill in the House. 
                Such a motion shall be in order only at a time 
                designated by the Speaker in the legislative schedule 
                within two legislative days after the day on which the 
                proponent announces an intention to the House to offer 
                the motion provided that such notice may not be given 
                until the approval bill is reported or a committee has 
                been discharged from further consideration thereof. 
                Such a motion shall not be in order after the House has 
                disposed of a motion to proceed with respect to that 
                special message. The previous question shall be 
                considered as ordered on the motion to its adoption 
                without intervening motion. A motion to reconsider the 
                vote by which the motion is disposed of shall not be in 
                order.
                    ``(C) Consideration.--If the motion to proceed is 
                agreed to, the House shall immediately proceed to 
                consider the approval bill in the House without 
                intervening motion. The approval bill shall be 
                considered as read. All points of order against the 
                approval bill and against its consideration are waived. 
                The previous question shall be considered as ordered on 
                the approval bill to its passage without intervening 
                motion except 2 hours of debate equally divided and 
                controlled by the proponent and an opponent and one 
                motion to limit debate on the bill. A motion to 
                reconsider the vote on passage of the approval bill 
                shall not be in order.
            ``(3) Consideration in the senate.--
                    ``(A) Committee action.--The appropriate committee 
                of the Senate shall report without amendment the 
                approval bill as defined in section 1015(2) not later 
                than the third session day after introduction. If a 
                committee fails to report the approval bill within that 
                period or the Senate has adopted a concurrent 
                resolution providing for adjournment sine die at the 
                end of a Congress, the Committee shall be automatically 
                discharged from further consideration of the approval 
                bill and it shall be placed on the appropriate 
                calendar.
                    ``(B) Motion to proceed.--Not later than 3 session 
                days after the approval bill is reported in the Senate 
                or the committee has been discharged thereof, it shall 
                be in order for any Senator to move to proceed to 
                consider the approval bill in the Senate. The motion 
                shall be decided without debate and the motion to 
                reconsider shall be deemed to have been laid on the 
                table. Such a motion shall not be in order after the 
                Senate has disposed of a prior motion to proceed with 
                respect to the approval bill.
                    ``(C) Consideration.--If a motion to proceed to the 
                consideration of the approval bill is agreed to, the 
                Senate shall immediately proceed to consideration of 
                the approval bill without intervening motion, order, or 
                other business, and the approval bill shall remain the 
                unfinished business of the Senate until disposed of. 
                Consideration on the bill in the Senate under this 
                subsection, and all debatable motions and appeals in 
                connection therewith, shall not exceed 10 hours equally 
                divided in the usual form. All points of order against 
                the approval bill or its consideration are waived. 
                Consideration in the Senate on any debatable motion or 
                appeal in connection with the approval bill shall be 
                limited to not more than 1 hour. A motion to postpone, 
                or a motion to proceed to the consideration of other 
                business, or a motion to recommit the approval bill is 
                not in order. A motion to reconsider the vote by which 
                the approval bill is agreed to or disagreed to is not 
                in order.
            ``(4) Amendments prohibited.--No amendment to, or motion to 
        strike a provision from, an approval bill considered under this 
        section shall be in order in either the Senate or the House of 
        Representatives.
            ``(5) Coordination with action by other house.--
                    ``(A) In general.--If, before passing the approval 
                bill, one House receives from the other a bill--
                            ``(i) the approval bill of the other House 
                        shall not be referred to a committee; and
                            ``(ii) the procedure in the receiving House 
                        shall be the same as if no approval bill had 
                        been received from the other House until the 
                        vote on passage, when the bill received from 
                        the other House shall supplant the approval 
                        bill of the receiving House.
                    ``(B) This paragraph shall not apply to the House 
                of Representatives.
    ``(b) Limitation.--Subsection (a) shall apply only to an approval 
bill, as such term is defined in section 1015(2), introduced pursuant 
to subsection (a)(1).
    ``(c) Extended Time Period.--If Congress adjourns at the end of a 
Congress prior to the expiration of the periods described in sections 
1012(c)(2) and 1014 and an approval bill was then pending in either 
House of Congress or a committee thereof, or an approval bill had not 
yet been introduced with respect to a special message, or before the 
applicable 10-day period specified in section 1011(a) has expired, then 
within the first 3 days of session, the President shall transmit to 
Congress an additional special message containing all of the 
information in the previous, pending special message and an approval 
bill may be introduced within the first five days of session of the 
next Congress and shall be treated as an approval bill under this part, 
and the time periods described in sections 1012(c)(2) and 1014 shall 
commence on the day of introduction of that approval bill.
    ``(d) Approval Bill Procedure.--In order for an approval bill to be 
considered under the procedures set forth in this part, the bill must 
meet the definition of an approval bill and must be introduced no later 
than the third day of session following the beginning of the period 
described in section 1013(a)(1) or the fifth day in the case of 
subsection (c).
    ``(e) CBO Estimate.--Upon receipt of a special message under 
section 1101 proposing to rescind all or part of any funding, CBO shall 
prepare and submit to the appropriate committees of the House of 
Representatives and the Senate an estimate of the reduction in budget 
authority which would result from the enactment of the proposed 
rescissions.

                       ``treatment of rescissions

    ``Sec. 1014. Rescissions proposed by the President under this part 
shall take effect only upon enactment of the applicable approval bill. 
If an approval bill is not enacted into law within 30 days from the 
enactment of the appropriation measure to which the approval bill 
relates, then the approval bill shall not be eligible for expedited 
consideration under the provisions of this part.

                             ``definitions

    ``Sec. 1015. As used in this part:
            ``(1) Appropriation measure.--The term `appropriation 
        measure' means an Act referred to in section 105 of title 1, 
        United States Code, including any general or special 
        appropriation Act, or any Act making supplemental, deficiency, 
        or continuing appropriations, that has been enacted into law 
        pursuant to article I, section 7, of the Constitution of the 
        United States.
            ``(2) Approval bill.--The term `approval bill' means a bill 
        which only approves rescissions of funding in a special message 
        transmitted by the President under this part and--
                    ``(A) the title of which is as follows: `A bill 
                approving the proposed rescissions transmitted by the 
                President on ___', the blank space being filled in with 
                the date of transmission of the relevant special 
                message and the public law number to which the message 
                relates; and
                    ``(B) which provides only the following after the 
                enacting clause: `That the Congress approves the 
                proposed rescissions ___', the blank space being filled 
                in with the list of the rescissions contained in the 
                President's special message, `as transmitted by the 
                President in a special message on ____', the blank 
                space being filled in with the appropriate date, 
                `regarding ____.', the blank space being filled in with 
                the public law number to which the special message 
                relates.
            ``(3) Rescind or rescission.--The terms `rescind' or 
        `rescission' mean to permanently cancel or prevent budget 
        authority or outlays available under an obligation limit from 
        having legal force or effect.
            ``(4) Congressional budget office.--The term `CBO' means 
        the Director of the Congressional Budget Office.
            ``(5) Comptroller general.--The term `Comptroller General' 
        means the Comptroller General of the United States.
            ``(6) Deferral of budget authority.--The term `deferral of 
        budget authority' includes--
                    ``(A) withholding or delaying the obligations or 
                expenditure of budget authority (whether by 
                establishing reserves or otherwise) provided for 
                projects or activities; or
                    ``(B) any other type of Executive action or 
                inaction which effectively precludes the obligation or 
                expenditure of budget authority, including authority to 
                obligate by contract in advance of appropriations as 
                specifically authorized by law.
            ``(7) Funding.--(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), 
        the term `funding' means all or part of the dollar amount of 
        budget authority or obligation limit--
                    ``(i) specified in an appropriation measure, or the 
                dollar amount of budget authority or obligation limit 
                required to be allocated by a specific proviso in an 
                appropriation measure for which a specific dollar 
                figure was not included;
                    ``(ii) represented separately in any table, chart, 
                or explanatory text included in the statement of 
                managers or the governing committee report accompanying 
                such law; or
                    ``(iii) represented by the product of the estimated 
                procurement cost and the total quantity of items 
                specified in an appropriation measure or included in 
                the statement of managers or the governing committee 
                report accompanying such law.
            ``(B) The term `funding' does not include--
                    ``(i) direct spending;
                    ``(ii) budget authority in an appropriation measure 
                which funds direct spending provided for in other law;
                    ``(iii) any existing budget authority canceled in 
                an appropriation measure; or
                    ``(iv) any restriction or condition in an 
                appropriation measure or the accompanying statement of 
                managers or committee reports on the expenditure of 
                budget authority for an account, program, project, or 
                activity, or on activities involving such expenditure.
            ``(8) Withhold.--The terms `withhold' and `withholding' 
        apply to any executive action or inaction that precludes the 
        obligation of funding at a time when it would otherwise have 
        been available to an agency for obligation. The terms do not 
        include administrative or preparatory actions undertaken prior 
        to obligation in the normal course of implementing budget laws.

                              ``expiration

    ``Sec. 1016. On October 1, 2028, the amendments made by A Fast-
Tracked Executive Rescission Review (AFTERR) of Appropriations Act of 
2018 shall be replaced by the provisions of part B of the Impoundment 
Control Act of 1974 as in effect immediately before the date of 
enactment of A Fast-Tracked Executive Rescission Review (AFTERR) of 
Appropriations Act of 2018.''.

SEC. 3. TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.

    (a) Exercise of Rulemaking Powers.--Section 904 of the 
Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 621 note) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a), by striking ``1017'' and inserting 
        ``1013''; and
            (2) in subsection (d), by striking ``section 1017'' and 
        inserting ``section 1013''.
    (b) Clerical Amendments.--(1) The last sentence of section 1(a) of 
the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 is amended 
to read as follows: ``Sections 1011 through 1016 of part B of title X 
may be cited as `A Fast-Tracked Executive Rescission Review (AFTERR) of 
Appropriations Act of 2018'.''.
    (2) Section 1017 of such Act (as redesignated) is amended by 
striking ``section 1012 or 1013'' each place it appears and inserting 
``section 1011 or 1019'' and section 1018 (as redesignated) is amended 
by striking ``calendar'' and ``of continuous session''.
    (3) Section 1019(c) of such Act (as redesignated) is amended by 
striking ``1012'' and inserting ``1011''.
    (4) Table of Contents.--The table of contents set forth in section 
1(b) of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 is 
amended by striking the items relating to parts B and C (including all 
of the items relating to the sections therein) of title X and inserting 
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.''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this Act shall apply to 
funding as defined in section 1015(8) of the Congressional Budget Act 
and Impoundment Control of 1974 in any Act enacted after the date of 
enactment of this Act.

SEC. 4. APPROVAL MEASURES CONSIDERED.

    Section 314 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsections (b) through (e) as 
        subsections (c) through (f) and by inserting after subsection 
        (a) the following new subsection:
    ``(b) Adjustments for Rescissions.--(1) Whenever an approval bill 
passes the House of Representatives, the Committee on the Budget shall 
immediately reduce the applicable allocations under section 302(a) by 
the total amount of reductions in budget authority and in outlays 
resulting from such approval bill.
    ``(2) As used in this subsection, the term `approval bill' has the 
meaning given to such term in section 1015.''; and
            (2) in subsection (d) (as redesignated), by inserting ``or 
        (b)'' after ``subsection (a)''.
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