Appropriations Subcommittee Structure: History of Changes from 1920 to 2019
Released: 2019-02-06T00:00:00

Introduction

Article I, Section 9, of the U.S. Constitution provides, "No money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law." The Constitution does not, however, prescribe any specific structure or process for making appropriations. The committee structure established by Congress during the 20 th century assigns a prominent role to the Appropriations Committees of the House and Senate for both the development of appropriations legislation and oversight over budget execution. The Appropriations Committees, in turn, have created a system of subcommittees designed to facilitate their ability to carry out these tasks.

The number and jurisdictions of appropriations subcommittees have evolved to meet changing needs and circumstances. For example, reorganization was undertaken at the beginning of the 108 th Congress in response to the creation of a new Department of Homeland Security. After the legislation establishing the new department was enacted, the House Appropriations Committee established a new subcommittee. This modification of subcommittee structure affected eight of the existing subcommittees and was one of the most extensive reorganizations of the Appropriations Committees since the 1920s. Shortly thereafter, a similar change was made in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Reorganization can also be undertaken to adapt to changes in congressional priorities. For example, in the reorganization that occurred at the start of the 109 th Congress, both the House and the Senate undertook a major change in subcommittee structure. This resulted in the elimination of three appropriations subcommittees in the House and one in the Senate and ultimately affected the jurisdictions of 10 appropriations subcommittees in the House and 8 in the Senate. Another major reorganization at the beginning of the 110 th Congress again shifted subcommittee jurisdiction to reestablish parallel House and Senate subcommittees.

This report details the evolution of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees' subcommittee structure from the 1920s to the present.

Consolidation and Initial Stability: 1920-1946

By the end of the First World War, the idea that the President should play a prominent role in a more centralized budgetary process gained prominence, ultimately resulting in passage of the Budget and Accounting Act of 1921. In anticipation of the more centralized executive budget system provided under the act, the House also changed its rules to require that all appropriations be considered by the Appropriations Committee. During the late 19 th century, congressional rules had assigned jurisdiction over certain general appropriations bills to committees other than the House and Senate Appropriations Committees. Notably, the appropriations bills for the District of Columbia, Indian affairs, Agriculture Department, Army, Navy, Post Office Department, and rivers and harbors (i.e., public works) were all considered by their respective legislative committees.

A subsequent, additional change involved the organization of appropriations bills. Prior to the Budget and Accounting Act, appropriations bills (and subcommittees) tended to be organized along topical lines. For example, the military activities of the War Department were considered in appropriations bills reported by the Military Affairs Committee, and the activities of the Corps of Engineers were considered in River and Harbor appropriations bills reported by the Commerce Committee. The salaries and contingent expenses for the civilian administration of the department, however, were carried in the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial bill, which was within the jurisdiction of the Appropriations Committee. A similar division existed for most departments and was true even for agencies whose appropriations were wholly within the jurisdiction of the Appropriations Committee. Funding for the activities of agencies as disparate as the Interstate Commerce Commission, the Coast Guard, and the Bureau of Mines was carried in the Sundry Civil bill, which was frequently the largest of the general appropriations bills. Nevertheless, their salaries and expenses were generally funded in the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial bill.

Concurrent with the congressional consolidation of jurisdiction over appropriations, the newly established Bureau of the Budget recommended that appropriations bills be reorganized along administrative lines, where appropriations for salaries and expenses would be carried in the same bill as funding for programs and activities administered by a department. This arrangement had previously existed only for the Department of Agriculture appropriations bill. The House Appropriations Committee adopted the bureau's concept and reorganized the structure of general appropriations bills and its subcommittees so extensively that only the structure of the Agriculture bill remained essentially unchanged.

After its reorganization, the House Appropriations Committee comprised the following subcommittees:

1. Agriculture Department; 2. Commerce and Labor Departments; 3. Deficiencies; 4. District of Columbia; 5. Independent Offices (including the Executive Office of the President); 6. Interior Department; 7. Legislative Establishment; 8. Navy Department and the Navy; 9. Post Office Department; 10. State and Justice Departments (including the judiciary); 11. Treasury Department; and 12. War Department and the Army (both military and civil functions).

By long-standing custom, the House originates all general appropriations bills. As a consequence, historically, the House has generally determined the initial content of the bills. By originating appropriations bills corresponding to its new administratively based organizational structure, the House created a jurisdictional problem for the Senate, which retained a system based on topical organization of appropriations bills, as well as multiple committees sharing jurisdiction over general appropriations bills. Confronted with the difficulty of considering the reorganized appropriations bills with its now outmoded system, the Senate reorganized its appropriations jurisdiction and subcommittees in 1922.

Information available on congressional subcommittees, including those of the Appropriations Committees, is generally sparse and unsystematic prior to enactment of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946. From available hearings and other committee documents, however, it appears that during this era the Appropriations Committees continued the practice of each subcommittee (other than the Deficiencies Subcommittee) being responsible for drafting one of the regular appropriations bills. Using data on appropriations bills to identify subcommittee structure during this period, one may conclude that the subcommittee structure of the Appropriations Committees was relatively stable. Other than name changes, the salient changes in appropriations bill structure (and, presumably, subcommittee structure) between 1922 and 1946 seem to have been limited to the following:

The combination of the bills for the Treasury and Post Office Departments beginning in the second session of the 68 th Congress (1924); The combination of the Commerce and Labor Departments bill with the State and Justice Departments bill beginning in the second session of the 68 th Congress (1924); The separation of the War Department and Army bill into two bills, one for the Military Establishment and the other for War Department Civil Functions, beginning in the first session of the 75 th Congress (1937); The separation of the Labor Department (and the Federal Security Agency) from the Departments of State, Justice, Commerce, and Labor bill beginning in the first session of the 76 th Congress (1939); and The inclusion of the Judiciary in the Legislative Branch bill during the 78 th Congress (1943-1944).

Reorganization and Multiple Changes: 1947-1970

One of the chief aims of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 was to bring about a modernization of Congress's committee system, including its subcommittees. As a result, unlike the earlier period, information on subcommittee structure since 1946 is more readily available. In the 80 th Congress (1947-1948), the Appropriations Committees in both chambers had these 12 subcommittees:

1. Agriculture; 2. Deficiencies; 3. District of Columbia; 4. Government Corporations; 5. Independent Offices; 6. Interior Department; 7. Legislative; 8. State, Justice, and Commerce Departments and the Judiciary; 9. Treasury Department and Post Office; 10. Labor Department and Federal Security Agency; 11. War Department; and 12. Navy Department.

The idea of modernizing congressional committee structure and operations embodied in the Legislative Reorganization Act was paralleled by an interest in developing a more modern federal administrative apparatus to supplant the one that had grown in episodic bursts to meet the challenges of the Depression and World War II. Because appropriations bills continued to be organized along administrative lines, these changes in the executive branch had an impact on appropriations subcommittee structure. The four changes in party control of the House between 1947 and 1955 also contributed to an environment conducive to revision of appropriations subcommittee jurisdiction. This evolution saw the number of subcommittees fluctuate between a low of 10 and a high of 15. Despite this fluctuation, it appears that the Appropriations Committees generally continued the practice of each subcommittee being responsible for drafting one of the regular appropriations bills.

Subcommittee Development

Appropriations Subcommittees that were created, abolished, or reorganized from the 80 th Congress through the 91 st Congress (1947-1970) are as follows:

Government Corporations

A subcommittee (and appropriations bill) specifically pertaining to government corporations operated in both the House and Senate during the 80 th Congress (1947-1948).

Public Works

Jurisdiction over Army civil functions was transferred to the Deficiencies Subcommittees in both the House and Senate for the 81 st Congress (1949-1950). The Senate subsequently transferred jurisdiction over deficiencies to the full committee and established a separate subcommittee for Army civil functions in the 82 nd Congress, which lasted through the 83 rd (1951-1954). The House continued to operate a Deficiencies and Army Civil Functions Subcommittee in the 82 nd Congress (1951-1952) but transferred jurisdiction over deficiencies to the full committee and created a subcommittee combining Army civil functions with military construction in the 83 rd Congress (1953-1954). A Public Works Subcommittee (including the Army civil functions as well as the Atomic Energy Commission, Bureau of Reclamation, and power marketing administrations) was established by both the House and Senate Appropriations Committees beginning in the first session of the 84 th Congress (1955). The Senate maintained separate subunits within the Public Works Subcommittee to consider matters related to the Atomic Energy Commission and Tennessee Valley Authority and related to the Bureau of Reclamation and Department of the Interior power marketing associations. These subunits operated beginning in the 84 th Congress (1955-1956), continuing through the 90 th Congress (1967-1968). A single bill was reported from the subcommittee for each fiscal year during this period.

Deficiencies

A separate subcommittee to consider deficiencies was discontinued in the Senate after the 81 st Congress (1949-1950) and in the House after the 82 nd Congress (1951-1952). Jurisdiction over deficiencies and supplemental was subsequently exercised by the full committee. A Deficiencies Subcommittee was reestablished by the House Appropriations Committee for the 86 th through 88 th Congresses (1959-1964), after which the jurisdiction was again exercised by the full committee. The Senate Subcommittee on Deficiencies was reestablished for the second session of the 87 th Congress and met through the 91 st Congress (1962-1970).

Department of Defense

The War and Navy Departments were consolidated to create a National Military Establishment (later the Department of Defense) during the first session of the 80 th Congress (1947), and their respective appropriations subcommittees were combined to create an Armed Services Subcommittee at the beginning of the 81 st Congress (1949). Renamed the Department of Defense Subcommittee in the first session of the 84 th Congress (1955), the House Subcommittee maintained three separate subunits for consideration of Army, Navy, and Air Force matters during the 84 th and 85 th Congresses (1955-1958), and the Senate maintained a separate subunit for intelligence activities between the 91 st and 94 th Congresses (1968-1976). During these years, there continued to be a single Department of Defense appropriations bill.

Military Construction

Military construction was considered part of the Defense Appropriations bill prior to the 83 rd Congress. Between the 83 rd Congress and the first session of the 85 th Congress (1953-1957), appropriations for military construction were carried primarily in deficiency and supplemental appropriations measures. In the 83 rd Congress (1953-1954), the House operated a Civil Functions and Military Construction Subcommittee, but it is otherwise not clear whether military construction matters were considered by a subcommittee in this period. A separate Military Construction Subcommittee was created by the House Appropriations Committee beginning in the second session of the 85 th Congress (1958), and a separate bill for military construction matters was considered for the first time that same year. The Senate Appropriations Committee established a separate subunit for military construction within the Defense Subcommittee in the 86 th Congress (1959-1960) and then a separate subcommittee beginning in the first session of the 87 th Congress (1961).

Legislative Branch

The House and Senate Appropriations Committees established a subcommittee to consider both legislative and judiciary matters in the 83 rd Congress (1953-1954). The two chambers subsequently returned to the former practice of a separate Legislative Subcommittee, with judiciary matters being considered by the same subcommittee as the Departments of State, Justice, and Commerce beginning in the first session of the 84 th Congress (1955).

Foreign Operations

A separate bill to fund foreign aid programs (then called the Mutual Security bill) was considered beginning in the first session of the 83 rd Congress (1953), with jurisdiction exercised by the full committee in both the House and Senate. A separate subcommittee was established by the House Appropriations Committee beginning in the first session of the 84 th Congress (1955). Foreign operations jurisdiction continued to be exercised at the full committee level by the Senate Appropriations Committee until the first session of the 91 st Congress (1969).

Commerce

Jurisdiction over Commerce Department appropriations was exercised by a separate subcommittee in the 84 th through 86 th Congresses (1955-1960). The subcommittee's jurisdiction was combined with the General Government Subcommittee for the first session of the 87 th Congress (1961). Beginning in the second session of the 87 th Congress (1962), jurisdiction was transferred to a subcommittee with jurisdiction over the State, Justice, and Commerce Departments and the judiciary.

General Government

In the House, a separate subcommittee was established for general government matters (including the Executive Office of the President) in the 84 th through 86 th Congress (1955-1960). In the Senate, jurisdiction over general government matters was exercised by a Subcommittee on Independent Offices and General Government Matters beginning in the 84 th Congress (1955-1956), although separate appropriations bills for independent offices and general government matters were considered. In both the House and Senate, jurisdiction over general government matters was combined with the Commerce Department Subcommittee in the first session of the 87 th Congress (1961). Jurisdiction over general government matters was subsequently combined with the Treasury Department and Post Office Subcommittee in both chambers beginning in the second session of the 87 th Congress (1962).

Transportation

A separate subcommittee was established to consider appropriations for the newly created Transportation Department by both the House and Senate Appropriations Committees beginning in the 90 th Congress (1967).

Stability: 1971-2002

With the creation of the Transportation Subcommittee by the House Appropriations Committee in 1967, the total number of appropriations subcommittees in the House stabilized at 13. The last subcommittee added in the Senate was the Foreign Operations Subcommittee in 1969, bringing the total in that body to 14. Once the Subcommittee on Deficiencies in the Senate was eliminated at the end of the 91 st Congress (1970), the two chambers' appropriations subcommittee structures both totaled 13 and remained parallel during this period.

There were no additions, and few major changes, in the subcommittee structure of either the House or Senate Appropriations Committees between 1971 and 2002. The changes that did occur were primarily changes in subcommittee names to reflect changes in agency and departmental status. For example, the title of the Independent Offices bill evolved with the creation of the Departments of Housing and Urban Development in 1965 and Veterans' Affairs in 1988, the Public Works bill became known as the Energy and Water bill after the creation of the Department of Energy in 1977, and the title of the Departments of Labor and Health Education and Welfare was modified to reflect the creation of a separate Department of Education in 1979. However, these changes did not represent major shifts in appropriations subcommittee jurisdictions.

At the beginning of the 107 th Congress, the House and Senate had the following 13 subcommittees:

1. Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, and Related Agencies; 2. Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, State, and Judiciary; 3. Subcommittee on Defense; 4. Subcommittee on the District of Columbia; 5. Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development; 6. Subcommittee on Foreign Operations; 7. Subcommittee on Interior and Related Agencies; 8. Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies; 9. Subcommittee on Legislative Branch; 10. Subcommittee on Military Construction; 11. Subcommittee on Transportation; 12. Subcommittee on Treasury and General Government; and 13. Subcommittee on Veteran's Affairs, Housing and Urban Development, and Independent Agencies.

Major Changes and Renewed Stability: 2003-Present

In response to the establishment of a Department of Homeland Security (DHS), in January 2003, the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee announced that a new appropriations subcommittee would be created. This new subcommittee, consolidating appropriations jurisdiction from eight existing subcommittees over the various entities comprising the DHS, was the first major reorganization of appropriations subcommittee structure in either chamber in over 30 years. The new subcommittee was formally established when the committee organized for the 108 th Congress in February 2003. In order to keep the number of appropriations subcommittees at 13, the committee also merged the subcommittees responsible for Department of Transportation appropriations with that responsible for Treasury, Postal Service, and General Government appropriations. The Senate Appropriations Committee made a similar change when it organized in March 2003.

At the beginning of the 109 th Congress (2005), the House Appropriations Committee undertook another substantial reorganization, reducing the number of subcommittees from 13 to 10. This reduction was achieved by eliminating the Subcommittees on the Legislative Branch, District of Columbia, and the Departments of Veterans Affairs, Housing and Urban Development, and Independent Agencies (VA-HUD). The jurisdiction over the Legislative Branch appropriations bill was retained by the full committee, and the following major changes were made in House appropriations subcommittee organization:

A new subcommittee on Military Quality of Life and Veterans Affairs was created. This was accomplished by combining the previous jurisdiction of the Military Construction subcommittee with jurisdiction over the Department of Veterans Affairs (formerly exercised by the VA-HUD subcommittee), as well as those portions of the Department of Defense concerning the Defense Health Program and military facilities sustain ment and housing accounts. The former Transportation and Treasury subcommittee gained jurisdiction over three new areas: The Department of Housing and Urban Development was transferred from the eliminated VA-HUD subcommittee; the federal judiciary was transferred from the former Commerce, Justice, State, and the Judiciary subcommittee; and jurisdiction over the District of Columbia was transferred from the eliminated District of Columbia subcommittee. Jurisdiction over NASA, the National Science Foundation, and the Office of Science and Technology Policy was transferred from the eliminated VA-HUD subcommittee to the newly named Subcommittee on Science, State, Justice and Commerce, and Related Agencies. Jurisdiction over other agencies formerly exercised by the VA-HUD Subcommittee was transferred to the Interior Subcommittee (the Environmental Protection Agency) and Labor-HHS Subcommittee (AmeriCorps). Jurisdiction over Weatherization Assistance Grants exercised by the Labor-HHS Subcommittee, and energy-related accounts exercised by the Interior Subcommittee, was transferred to the Energy and Water Development Subcommittee.

This reorganization left the House with the following 10 subcommittees:

1. Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies; 2. Subcommittee on Defense; 3. Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, and Related Agencies; 4. Subcommittee on Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs; 5. Subcommittee on Homeland Security; 6. Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies; 7. Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies; 8. Subcommittee on Military Quality of Life and Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies; 9. Subcommittee on Science, State, Justice and Commerce, and Related Agencies; and 10. Subcommittee on Transportation, Treasury, and Housing and Urban Development, the Judiciary, District of Columbia.

The Senate Appropriations Committee subsequently adopted a reorganization plan as well, eliminating the Subcommittee on Veterans Affairs, Housing and Urban Development, and Independent Agencies and making the following major changes:

Jurisdiction over Veterans Affairs was transferred to the Subcommittee on Military Construction. Jurisdiction over the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the federal judiciary was transferred to the former Subcommittee on Transportation, Treasury and General Government. Jurisdiction over NASA, the National Science Foundation, and the Office of Science and Technology Policy was transferred to the former Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, State, and the Judiciary. Jurisdiction over AmeriCorps was transferred to the Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies. Jurisdiction over the Environmental Protection Agency was transferred to the Subcommittee on Interior and Related Agencies. Jurisdiction over energy related accounts formerly exercised by the Interior Subcommittee was transferred to the Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development. Jurisdiction over the State Department was transferred to the former Subcommittee on Foreign Operations.

This reorganization left the Senate with the following 12 subcommittees:

1. Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, and Related Agencies; 2. Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice and Science; 3. Subcommittee on Defense; 4. Subcommittee on the District of Columbia; 5. Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development; 6. Subcommittee on Homeland Security; 7. Subcommittee on Interior and Related Agencies; 8. Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies; 9. Subcommittee on Legislative Branch; 10. Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs; 11. Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations, and Related Programs; and 12. Subcommittee on Transportation, Treasury, the Judiciary, and Housing and Urban Development.

At the beginning of the 110 th Congress (2007), further major changes were made as follows:

Jurisdiction over the Departments of Transportation, Treasury, and Housing and Urban Affairs was divided to create subcommittees in both chambers on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and related agencies and on Financial Services and General Government (including the Treasury Department, the Judiciary, the Executive Office of the President, the Office of Personnel Management, the Postal Service, the District of Columbia, and other related agencies, such as the Federal Elections Commission, Federal Trade Commission, Securities and Exchange Commission, and Small Business Administration). Jurisdiction over defense health programs and military facilities sustainment and housing accounts was transferred from the House Military Quality of Life subcommittee to the Defense subcommittee. Jurisdiction over the State Department was transferred from the House Science, State, Justice and Commerce, and Related Agencies subcommittee to the Foreign Operations subcommittee.

In addition, the House reestablished a subcommittee with jurisdiction over the legislative branch, and the Senate eliminated a separate subcommittee on the District of Columbia. The reorganization left the two chambers with the following 12 subcommittees:

1. Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies; 2. Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies; 3. Subcommittee on Defense; 4. Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, and Related Agencies; 5. Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government; 6. Subcommittee on the Department of Homeland Security; 7. Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies; 8. Subcommittee on the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies; 9. Subcommittee on Legislative Branch; 10. Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies; 11. Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs; 12. Subcommittee on Transportation and Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies.

These 12 subcommittees have remained in place since 2007. In most respects, the jurisdictions of subcommittees for both the House and Senate Appropriations Committees were made parallel. The one salient exception was jurisdiction over funding for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). In the House, funding for CFTC is included in the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill, while the Senate includes it in the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations bill. Since 2007, the two chambers have alternated which of these two measures includes CFTC funding when enacted.

During the first session of the 110 th Congress (2007), based on the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission, the House created the Select Intelligence Oversight Panel of the Appropriations Committee to oversee spending on federal intelligence activities. This panel was established for three major purposes: to review and study on a continuing basis budget requests for and execution of intelligence activities, to make recommendations to relevant subcommittees of the Appropriations Committee, and to prepare an annual report to the Defense subcommittee containing budgetary and oversight observations and recommendations for use by such subcommittee in preparation of the classified annex to the bill making appropriations for the Department of Defense. This panel did not have any spending jurisdiction.

At the beginning of the 112 th Congress (2011), the Select Intelligence Oversight Panel was eliminated by H.Res. 5 , adopted on January 5, 2011.