About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

1 1 (December 23, 2019)

handle is hein.crs/govbdvw0001 and id is 1 raw text is: FF.~*\* gognpo go g , q 'S a X 11LULANJILiN, Updated December 23, 2019 Defense Primer: Defense Appropriations Process The Constitution gives Congress the power of the purse in Article I, Section 9, which provides that No money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law. To fulfill this duty, Congress annually considers appropriations measures, which provide funding for numerous activities such as national defense, education, and homeland security consistent with policies and priorities established through legislation such as the National Defense Authorization Act. The congressional appropriations process includes various rules and practices that Congress has adopted to distinguish appropriations measures and facilitate their consideration. These measures generally provide funding authority in response to the President's budget request for a fiscal year (October 1 through September 30). The House and Senate Committees on Appropriations exercise jurisdiction over the annual appropriations measures. Each committee has 12 subcommittees, with each subcommittee having responsibility for developing one regular annual appropriations bill to provide funding for departments and activities within its jurisdiction. The jurisdictions of the House and Senate Appropriations subcommittees are generally parallel. The main subcommittees dealing with defense matters are * Subcommittees on Defense, with jurisdiction over appropriations for the Departments of Army, Navy (including Marine Corps), Air Force, Office of Secretary of Defense, Defense Agencies, the Central Intelligence Agency, and the Intelligence Community Staff. * Subcommittees on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies, with jurisdiction over appropriations for Military Construction, Chemical Demilitarization Construction, Military Family Housing Construction and Operation and Maintenance, the Base Realignment and Closure Account, NATO Security Investment Program, as well as the Department of Veterans Affairs, and other related agencies. * Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, with jurisdiction over the Army Corps of Engineers, and all defense-related activities of the Department of Energy, including the National Nuclear Security Administration. The Congressional Budget Act of 1974 provides for the annual consideration of a concurrent resolution on the budget, which allows Congress to establish overall budgetary and fiscal policy to be implemented through enactment of subsequent legislation. The budget resolution, in part, establishes a limit on total new budget authority and outlay levels divided among 20 functional categories such as national defense, agriculture, and transportation that set spending priorities. Section 302(a) of the Congressional Budget Act requires that the total new budget authority and outlays in the budget resolution be allocated among all committees with spending jurisdiction. This establishes ceilings on spending for legislation reported from each committee that can be enforced procedurally through points of order during consideration of the legislation. All discretionary spending is allocated to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, which are required to subdivide this allocation among their 12 subcommittees under Section 302(b) of the Congressional Budget Act. These suballocations are also enforceable during consideration of legislation, preventing the consideration of amendments that would increase funding above these limits. In the absence of agreement on a budget resolution, the House and Senate may use alternative means to establish enforceable limits. Upon receipt of the President's budget request, the appropriations subcommittees begin a series of hearings in which the senior civilian and military leadership of the Department of Defense, the military services, and certain defense agencies are invited to testify before the subcommittees on the budget request. At the same time, Members of Congress may submit requests and make recommendations concerning proposed programmatic levels and language to be included in appropriations bills and committee reports. After conducting these hearings, the House and Senate Appropriations Committees make their suballocations, and the subcommittees begin to draft, mark up, and report the appropriations bills to their respective full committees. The full committees also hold a markup and may adopt amendments to a subcommittee's recommendations before reporting the bills and making them available for floor consideration. In addition to drafting the bills, the subcommittees also prepare reports, which include information required by House and Senate rules, explain committee actions, and provide guidance and directives to agencies. Committee reports may not be amended directly during floor proceedings. Ho,,sxe a,',d SeL,,', Traditionally, the House initiates consideration of regular appropriations measures, although the Senate Appropriations Committee may draft or report appropriations legislation in anticipation of House action. The House Appropriations Committee generally begins reporting the appropriations bills to the House in May or June. Once reported from committee, an appropriations bill may be scheduled for floor consideration. In the House, :!K.:$:OOK~2$' ~dN

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most