House Budget Committee
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The United States House Committee on the Budget, commonly known as the House Budget Committee, is a
standing committee A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly or other form of organization. A committee may not itself be considered to be a form of assembly or a decision-making body. Usually, an assembly o ...
of the
United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...
. Its responsibilities include legislative oversight of the federal budget process, reviewing all bills and resolutions on the budget, and monitoring agencies and programs funded outside of the budgetary process. The committee briefly operated as a select committee in 1919 and 1921, during the 66th and 67th United States Congresses, before being made a standing committee in 1974.


Role of the committee

The primary responsibility of the Budget Committee is the drafting and preparation of the
Concurrent Resolution A concurrent resolution is a resolution (a legislative measure) adopted by both houses of a bicameral legislature that lacks the force of law (is non-binding) and does not require the approval of the chief executive ( president). Concurrent reso ...
on the Budget, commonly referred to as the "
budget resolution The United States budget process is the framework used by Congress and the President of the United States to formulate and create the United States federal budget. The process was established by the Budget and Accounting Act of 1921, the Congr ...
". This resolution sets the aggregate levels of revenue and spending that is expected to occur in a given
fiscal year A fiscal year (also known as a financial year, or sometimes budget year) is used in government accounting, which varies between countries, and for budget purposes. It is also used for financial reporting by businesses and other organizations. La ...
. A budget resolution by law must be enacted by Congress by April 15. This target date is rarely met, and in at least four years (FY1999, FY2003, FY2005, and FY2007) no budget resolution was ultimately adopted. This resolution also gives to each committee of the House an "allocation" of "new budget authority". This allocation is important in the consideration of legislation on the floor of the House. If a bill comes to the floor to be considered and it causes an increase in spending above this allocation, it is subject to a point of order (under 302(f) of the Congressional Budget Act). This is true for discretionary spending (spending that is provided to the Federal Government each year) and mandatory spending (spending such as entitlements where a beneficiary class is defined and a benefit is provided). If an entitlement is expanded and it has not been budgeted for in the budget resolution, it is subject to a point of order on the floor and, if not waived, will prevent it from being called up for consideration (if a Member of Congress stands before the body and makes the
point of order In parliamentary procedure, a point of order occurs when someone draws attention to a rules violation in a meeting of a deliberative assembly. Explanation and uses In ''Robert's Rules of Order, Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised'' (RONR), a ...
). In general, legislation is cleared of such problems prior to consideration through discussions between the House Parliamentarian, the House Leadership, and the House Budget Committee. The committee holds hearings on federal budget legislation and congressional resolutions related to the federal budget process. The committee holds hearings on the president's annual budget request to
Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...
and drafts the annual Congressional Budget Resolution, which sets overall spending guidelines for Congress as it develops the annual federal appropriations bills. The committee also reviews supplemental budget requests submitted by the president, which cover items which for one reason or another were not included in the original budget request, usually for emergency spending. Recently, emergency budget supplementals have been used to request funding for the wars in
Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...
and
Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...
as well as for disaster recovery after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The committee may amend, approve, or
table Table may refer to: * Table (database), how the table data arrangement is used within the databases * Table (furniture), a piece of furniture with a flat surface and one or more legs * Table (information), a data arrangement with rows and column ...
budget-related bills. It also has the power to enforce established federal budget rules, hold budget-related investigations, and
subpoena A subpoena (; also subpœna, supenna or subpena) or witness summons is a writ issued by a government agency, most often a court, to compel testimony by a witness or production of evidence under a penalty for failure. There are two common types of ...
witnesses. Additionally, the committee has oversight of the
Congressional Budget Office The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency within the United States Congress, legislative branch of the United States government that provides budget and economic information to Congress. I ...
.


Rules of the committee

The committee meets on the second Wednesday of each month while the House is in session. Though this is required, it is almost always waived and the committee only meets when a subject of sufficient importance arises. This usually occurs during the early part of the calendar year when the president's budget is issued and important budgetary decisions must be made. It is not permitted to conduct business unless a
quorum A quorum is the minimum number of members of a group necessary to constitute the group at a meeting. In a deliberative assembly (a body that uses parliamentary procedure, such as a legislature), a quorum is necessary to conduct the business of ...
is present. For hearings, two members must be present for a hearing to begin. For a business meeting, such as a "mark-up" of a legislative document, a majority of its members must be present. If a bill is passed out of committee without the requisite quorum, it may be subject to a point of order on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives. The committee may only consider measures placed before it either by the chairman or by a majority vote of its members. Each member of the committee may question witnesses during hearings, in order of seniority when the hearing is called to order. Otherwise, members are recognized in order of their arrival after the gavel has brought the committee to order.


Committee members

The committee is chaired by Republican
Jodey Arrington Jodey Cook Arrington ( ; born March 9, 1972) is an American politician serving as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for since 2017. The district includes a large slice of West Texas, centered around Lubbock, Texas, ...
from
Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
. The ranking member is Democrat Brendan Boyle from
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...
. Also under House rules, unlike other committees of the House of Representatives, membership on the Budget Committee is term limited. Rank-and-file members must rotate off the committee after serving for three terms. Chairmen and ranking members may serve no more than four terms. (See Clause 5 of Rule X of the Rules of the House of Representatives). These limits are often waived, as they have been for Chairman
John Kasich John Richard Kasich Jr. ( ; born May 13, 1952) is an American politician and author who was the 69th governor of Ohio from 2011 to 2019, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1983 to 2001, and a Republican candidate for the pre ...
(R-OH), Chairman Jim Nussle (R-IA) and Chairman John Spratt (D-SC). Such a waiver requires a vote of the whole House, and is usually included in the opening day "Rules Package" that sets the rules for each successive Congress. Such a resolution is normally introduced as "House Resolution 5" or "House Resolution 6". Several high-profile budget committee members have gone on to serve as Director of the Office of Management and Budget: Leon Panetta (budget committee chairman 1989–1993),
Rob Portman Robert Jones Portman (born December 19, 1955) is an American attorney and politician who served as a United States senator from Ohio from 2011 to 2023. A member of the Republican Party, Portman was the 35th director of the Office of Management ...
(budget committee vice chairman) and Jim Nussle (budget committee chairman 2001–2007). Additionally,
John Kasich John Richard Kasich Jr. ( ; born May 13, 1952) is an American politician and author who was the 69th governor of Ohio from 2011 to 2019, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1983 to 2001, and a Republican candidate for the pre ...
(chairman 1995–2001) went on to serve as Governor of Ohio from 2011 to 2019, while
Paul Ryan Paul Davis Ryan (born January 29, 1970) is an American politician who served as the List of Speakers of the United States House of Representatives, 54th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 2015 to 2019. A member of the ...
(chairman 2011–2015) was the Republican nominee for vice president in
2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...
and the House speaker from 2015 to 2019.


Members, 119th Congress

Resolutions electing members: (Chair), (Ranking Member), (R), (D), (Chu)


Historical membership rosters


118th Congress

Resolutions electing members: (Chair), (Ranking Member), (D), (R), (D), (amending rank), (R)


117th Congress

Resolutions electing members: (Chair), (Ranking Member), (D), (R), (removing Marjorie Taylor Greene), (R), (R), (R), (R), (R), (R)


116th Congress

Sources: (Chair), (Ranking Member), (D), (R), (D), (R), (D), (R)


115th Congress

Sources: (Chair), (Ranking Member), (R), , , (D), (R)


Major legislation reported out of the committee

* U.S. House Fiscal Year 2014 Budget (H. Con. Res. 25; 113th Congress) - was reported out of the Budget Committee on March 15, 2013, and introduced by Committee Chairman Paul Ryan to the House floor. It passed the House on March 21, 2013, 221–207.


See also

* List of current United States House of Representatives committees


References


External links


House Budget Committee homepageArchive

House Budget Committee
Legislation activity and reports, Congress.gov. {{United States congressional committees
Budget A budget is a calculation plan, usually but not always financial plan, financial, for a defined accounting period, period, often one year or a month. A budget may include anticipated sales volumes and revenues, resource quantities including tim ...
Economy of the United States 1974 establishments in Washington, D.C. Organizations established in 1974