The Role of the Appropriations Committee

When the Appropriations Committees receive the aggregate allocation (known as a section 302(a) allocation) from the budget resolution, they divide this into suballocations (known as the section 302(b) suballocations) corresponding to each of the thirteen Appropriations Subcommittees. Once the subcommittees receive their suballocation totals, each subcommittee begins work on its annual spending bill for the relevant areas of government operations. The subcommittees work off the Administration’s budget request, as well as previous year’s spending bills, incorporating any new priorities Congress may have. The President requests annual appropriations in his budget submission in February which agencies supplement with justification materials sent to the two Appropriations Committees. These justifications contain more detail than the budget request and are used in support of agencies’ testimony during annual subcommittee hearings on the President’s budget.

In the House, appropriation measures originate in the Appropriations Committee when one of its subcommittees marks up or reports a committee print, rather than its being introduced by a Member beforehand. Once a subcommittee completes its work on a chairman’s mark, it is reported to the full committee where it is considered, possibly amended and ultimately approved and reported by the full Appropriations Committee consistent with House rules. At this point, the ordered reported bill is normally reported by the appropriate subcommittee chairman. All committee actions are constrained by the overall discretionary spending limits and the allocations in the budget resolution. The target date under the Budget Act for completion of the House Appropriations Committee’s action on these general bills is June 10 of each year.