For detailed information on the appropriations process, and the current status of the 12 annual appropriations bills, link to our affiliated website: Appropriations.com. Following is an overview of the appropriations process.
Background: Minibus, Omnibus, and other Types of Appropriations Bills:
Overview: For nearly two centuries, “regular appropriations bills” were considered by the House and Senate as individual measures and enacted as standalone laws. However, since 1986 various forms of omnibus, minibus bills, and continuing resolutions have become the norm.
12 Regular Appropriations Bills: The House and Senate Appropriations Committees are both organized into 12 subcommittees, with each subcommittee having responsibility for developing one regular annual appropriations bill. For an overview of this year’s appropriations process, link to the Appropriations.com homepage. For the current status and history of individual bills, click on the links below.
- Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies, which oversees funding for the USDA (except the Forest Service) and other agencies;
- Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies, which oversees funding for the Department of Commerce, the Department of Justice, NASA, and other agencies;
- Defense, which oversees funding for the military, the intelligence community, and other national defense related agencies;
- Energy and Water Development, which oversees funding for the Department of Energy, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and other agencies;
- Financial Services and General Government, which oversees funding for the Department of the Treasury, the Executive Office of the President, and other government functions;
- Homeland Security, which oversees funding for the Department of Homeland Security;
- Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies, which oversees funding for the Department of the Interior, the EPA, the U.S. Forest Service, and a number of independent agencies;
- Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies, which oversees funding for the Department of Education, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Labor, and other agencies;
- Legislative Branch, which oversees funding for the House of Representatives and Senate, the U.S. Capitol, the Library of Congress, the GAO, and other legislative branch functionsl
- Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies, which oversees funding for military construction (including military housing), the Department of Veterans Affairs, and related agencies;
- State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs, which oversees funding for the U.S. State Department, USAID, and related programs; and
- Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies, which oversees funding for the Department of Transportation, HUD, and related agencies.
Continuing Resolutions (CR): Due to escalating disagreements on fiscal policy, it is rare for Congress to complete action on all 12 appropriations bills by October 1; the last time was 1996. Instead, Congress passes stop-gap measures, called continuing resolutions (“CRs”), to keep agencies operating at a particular level of funding (often the previous year’s funding level, with some adjustments) while they endeavor to complete appropriations action.
- Sometimes, multiple CRs are enacted adopted before final agreement on appropriations for the fiscal year is reached.
- CRs are enacted in the form of joint resolutions requiring presidential signature.
- Occasionally, political gridlock prevents adoption of a CR and the federal government shuts down. Lengthy government shutdowns occurred in 1995 and 2013. For more information on CRs and government shutdowns, see: https://appropriations.com/government-shutdown/ and https://appropriations.com/government-shutdown/.
Omnibus, Minibus, and Cromnibus Appropriations Bills
Since the 1920s and until the mid-1980s, the regular order in Congress for enactment of discretionary appropriations was consideration of 12 or 13 regular annual appropriation bills, enacted as standalone laws.
However, since the mid-1980s, while the Appropriations subcommittees and full committees of the House and Senate typically begin the appropriations process with drafting individual appropriations bills and reports, following committee action, the congressional leadership has often opted to combine some, or all, of the appropriation bills into an “omnibus,” or “consolidated” measure.
Typically, the leadership of the two chambers, together with the chairs and ranking members of the two appropriations committees, package together bills in a manner that is strategically likely to expedite passage or lead to a resolution of outstanding differences through comprehensive negotiations.
When a combined bill includes all 12 regular appropriations bills, it is typically called an “omnibus” or “consolidated” appropriations act. A bill that includes fewer than 12 regular appropriations bills is colloquially called a “minibus.” A variation of this is known as a “cromnibus” when it combines several of the regular bills, together with a continuing resolution (“CR”) for the remaining departments and agencies.
For additional details see: https://appropriations.com/omni-bills/
Supplemental Appropriations: In addition to amounts provided in a regular appropriations measure, the President may request, and Congress may enact, additional funding for a fiscal year in the form of one or more supplemental appropriations measures (“supplementals”). Supplementals are used to provide funding where the need is too urgent to be postponed until enactment of the next regular appropriations bill, often in response to natural disasters, health emergencies, or national security requirements.
For additional details see: https://appropriations.com/supps/
Rescissions, Deferrals & the Impoundment Control Act
A rescission (cancellation) of appropriations, proposed by the President, does not take effect unless Congress affirmatively passes a law approving the cancellation within 45 days (of continuous session). Consequently, if either the House or Senate fails to enact the President’s proposed rescission of budget authority in a timely manner, the President has no choice but to release the budget authority to the agency. Rescission legislation in the Senate is protected by statutory debate limitations and therefore cannot be filibustered, requiring only a simple majority (51) for passage.
Deferrals. Unlike a rescission proposal, a presidentialdeferral takes effect unless overturned by statute. The purpose of the deferral mechanism is to permit the Executive Branch to temporarily set money aside until later in the year. Funds may not be deferred for a period that is too long to allow the agency to obligate the funds before the end of the fiscal year.
For additional detail on rescissions, deferrals and the Impoundment Control Act, see: https://appropriations.com/rescissions/.