[Constitution, Jefferson's Manual, and the Rules of the House of Representatives, 112th Congress] [112nd Congress] [House Document 111-157] [Legislate Procedures Enacted in Law] [Pages 1128-1135] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov] 6. Title X of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 a. impoundment control, Sec. Sec. 1011-13, 1017 [2 U.S.C. 682-84, 688] definitions Sec. 1011. For purposes of this part-- (1) ``deferral of budget authority'' includes-- (A) withholding or delaying the obligation or expenditure of budget authority (whether by establishing reserves or otherwise) provided for projects or activities; or (B) any other type of Executive action or inaction which effectively precludes the obligation or expenditure of budget authority, including authority to obligate by contract in advance of appropriations as specifically authorized by law; (2) ``Comptroller General'' means the Comptroller General of the United States; (3) ``rescission bill'' means a bill or joint resolution which only rescinds, in whole or in part, budget authority proposed to be rescinded in a special message transmitted by the President under section 1012, and upon which the Congress completes action before the end of the first period of 45 calendar days of continuous session of the Congress after the date on which the President's message is received by the Congress; (4) ``impoundment resolution'' means a resolution of the House of Representatives or the Senate which only expresses its [[Page 1129]] of budget authority set disapproval of a proposed deferral forth in a special message transmitted by the President under section 1013; and (5) continuity of a session of the Congress shall be considered as broken only by an adjournment of the Congress sine die, and the days on which either House is not in session because of an adjournment of more than 3 days to a day certain shall be excluded in the computation of the 45-day period referred to in paragraph (3) of this section and in section 1012, and the 25-day periods referred to in sections 1016 and 1017(b)(1). If a special message is transmitted under section 1012 during any Congress and the last session of such Congress adjourns sine die before the expiration of 45 calendar days of continuous session (or a special message is so transmitted after the last session of the Congress adjourns sine die), the message shall be deemed to have been retransmitted on the first day of the succeeding Congress and the 45-day period referred to in paragraph (3) of this section and in section 1012 (with respect to such message) shall commence on the day after such first day. rescission of budget authority Sec. 1012. (a) transmittal of special message.--Whenever the President determines that all or part of any budget authority will not be required to carry out the full objectives or scope of programs for which it is provided or that such budget authority should be rescinded for fiscal policy or other reasons (including the termination of authorized projects or activities for which budget authority has been provided), or whenever all or part of budget authority provided for only one fiscal year is to be reserved from obligation for such fiscal year, the President shall transmit to both Houses of Congress a special message specifying-- (1) the amount of budget authority which he proposes to be rescinded or which is to be so reserved; (2) any account, department, or establishment of the Government to which such budget authority is available for obligation, and the specific project or governmental functions involved; (3) the reasons why the budget authority should be rescinded [[Page 1130]] or is to be so reserved; (4) to the maximum extent practicable, the estimated fiscal, economic, and budgetary effect of the proposed rescission or of the reservation; and (5) all facts, circumstances, and considerations relating to or bearing upon the proposed rescission or the reservation and the decision to effect the proposed rescission or the reservation, and to the maximum extent practicable, the estimated effect of the proposed rescission or the reservation upon the objects, purposes, and programs for which the budget authority is provided. (b) requirement to make available for obligation.--Any amount of budget authority proposed to be rescinded or that is to be reserved as set forth in such special message shall be made available for obligation unless, within the prescribed 45-day period, the Congress has completed action on a rescission bill rescinding all or part of the amount proposed to be rescinded or that is to be reserved. Funds made available for obligation under this procedure may not be proposed for rescission again. proposed deferrals of budget authority Sec. 1013. (a) transmittal of special message.--Whenever the President, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, the head of any department or agency of the United States, or any officer or employee of the United States proposes to defer any budget authority provided for a specific purpose or project, the President shall transmit to the House of Representatives and the Senate a special message specifying-- (1) The amount of the budget authority proposed to be deferred; (2) any account, department, or establishment of the Government to which such budget authority is available for obligation, and the specific projects or governmental functions involved; (3) the period of time during which the budget authority is proposed to be deferred; (4) the reasons for the proposed deferral, including any legal authority invoked to justify the proposed deferral; (5) to the maximum extent practicable, the estimated fiscal, economic, and budgetary effect of the proposed deferral; [[Page 1131]] and (6) all facts, circumstances, and considerations relating to or bearing upon the proposed deferral and the decision to effect the proposed deferral, including an analysis of such facts, circumstances, and considerations in terms of their application to any legal authority, including specific elements of legal authority, invoked to justify such proposed deferral, and to the maximum extent practicable, the estimated effect of the proposed deferral upon the objects, purposes, and programs for which the budget authority is provided. A special message may include one or more proposed deferrals of budget authority. A deferral may not be proposed for any period of time extending beyond the end of the fiscal year in which the special message proposing the deferral is transmitted to the House and the Senate. (b) consistency with legislative policy.--Deferrals shall be permissible only-- (1) to provide for contingencies; (2) to achieve savings made possible by or through changes in requirements or greater efficiency of operations; or (3) as specifically provided by law. No officer or employee of the United States may defer any budget authority for any other purpose. (c) exception.--The provisions of this section do not apply to any budget authority proposed to be rescinded or that is to be reserved as set forth in a special message required to be transmitted under section 1012. * * * procedure in house and senate Sec. 1017. (a) referral.--Any rescission bill introduced with respect to a special message or impoundment resolution introduced with respect to a proposed deferral of budget authority shall be referred to the appropriate committee of the House of Representatives or the Senate, as the case may be. [[Page 1132]] cial message or impoundment resolution with respect to the same proposed deferral, as the case may be, which has been referred to the committee. (b) discharge of committee.--(1) If the committee of which a rescission bill or impoundment resolution has been referred has not reported it at the end of 25 calendar days of continuous session of the Congress after its introduction, it is in order to move either to discharge the committee from further consideration of the bill or resolution or to discharge the committee from further consideration of any other rescission bill with respect to the same spe (2) A motion to discharge may be made only by an individual favoring the bill or resolution, may be made only if supported by one-fifth of the Members of the House involved (a quorum being present), and is highly privileged in the House and privileged in the Senate (except that it may not be made after the committee has reported a bill or resolution with respect to the same special message or the same proposed deferral, as the case may be); and debate thereon shall be limited to not more than 1 hour, the time to be divided in the House equally between those favoring and those opposing the bill or resolution, and to be divided in the Senate equally between, and controlled by, the majority leader and the minority leader or their designees. An amendment to the motion is not in order, and it is not in order to move to reconsider the vote by which the motion is agreed to or disagreed to. (c) floor consideration in the house.--(1) When the committee of the House of Representatives has reported, or has been discharged from further consideration of, a rescission bill or impoundment resolution, it shall at any time thereafter be in order (even though a previous motion to the same effect has been disagreed to) to move to proceed to the consideration of the bill or resolution. The motion shall be highly privileged and not debatable. An amendment to the motion shall not be in order, nor shall it be in order to move to reconsider the vote by which the motion is agreed to or disagreed to. (2) Debate on a rescission bill or impoundment resolution shall be limited to not more than 2 hours, which shall be divided equally between those favoring and those opposing the bill or resolution. A motion further to limit debate shall not be debatable. In the case of an impoundment resolution, no amendment to, or motion to recommit, the resolution shall be in order. It shall not be in order to move to reconsider the vote by which a rescission bill or impoundment resolution is agreed to or disagreed to. (3) Motions to postpone, made with respect to the consideration of a rescission bill or impoundment resolution, and motions to proceed to the consideration of other business, shall be decided without debate. [[Page 1133]] tives to the procedure relating to any rescission bill or impoundment resolution shall be decided without debate. (4) All appeals from the decisions of the Chair relating to the application of the Rules of the House of Representa (5) Except to the extent specifically provided in the preceding provisions of this subsection, consideration of any rescission bill or impoundment resolution and amendments thereto (or any conference report thereon) shall be governed by the Rules of the House of Representatives applicable to other bills and resolutions, amendments, and conference reports in similar circumstances. (d) floor consideration in the senate.--(1) Debate in the Senate on any rescission bill or impoundment resolution, and all amendments thereto (in the case of a rescission bill) and debatable motions and appeals in connection therewith, shall be limited to not more than 10 hours. The time shall be equally divided between, and controlled by, the majority leader and the minority leader or their designees. (2) Debate in the Senate on any amendment to a rescission bill shall be limited to 2 hours, to be equally divided between, and controlled by, the mover and the manager of the bill. Debate on any amendment to an amendment, to such a bill, and debate on any debatable motion or appeal in connection with such a bill or an impoundment resolution shall be limited to 1 hour, to be equally divided between, and controlled by, the mover and the manager of the bill or resolution, except that in the event the manager of the bill or resolution is in favor of any such amendment, motion, or appeal, the time in opposition thereto, shall be controlled by the minority leader or his designee. No amendment that is not germane to the provisions of a rescission bill shall be received. Such leaders, or either of them, may, from the time under their control on the passage of a rescission bill or impoundment resolution, allot additional time to any Senator during the consideration of any amendment, debatable motion, or appeal. [[Page 1134]] (3) A motion to further limit debate is not debatable. In the case of a rescission bill, a motion to recommit (except a motion to recommit with instructions to report back within a specified number of days, not to exceed 3, not counting any day on which the Senate is not in session) is not in order. Debate on any such motion to recommit shall be limited to one hour, to be equally divided between, and controlled by, the mover and the manager of the concurrent resolution. In the case of an impoundment resolution, no amendment or motion to recommit is in order. (4) The conference report on any rescission bill shall be in order in the Senate at any time after the third day (excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays) following the day on which such a conference report is reported and is available to Members of the Senate. A motion to proceed to the consideration of the conference report may be made even though a previous motion to the same effect has been disagreed to. (5) During the consideration in the Senate of the conference report on any rescission bill, debate shall be limited to 2 hours, to be equally divided between, and controlled by, the majority leader and minority leader or their designees. Debate on any debatable motion or appeal related to the conference report shall be limited to 30 minutes, to be equally divided between, and controlled by, the mover and the manager of the conference report. (6) Should the conference report be defeated, debate on any request for a new conference and the appointment of conferees shall be limited to one hour, to be equally divided, between, and controlled by, the manager of the conference report and the minority leader or his designee, and should any motion be made to instruct the conferees before the conferees are named, debate on such motion shall be limited to 30 minutes, to be equally divided between, and controlled by, the mover and the manager of the conference report. Debate on any amendment to any such instructions shall be limited to 20 minutes, to be equally divided between, and controlled by the mover and the manager of the conference report. In all cases when the manager of the conference report is in favor of any motion, appeal, or amendment, the time in opposition shall be under the control of the minority leader or his designee. (7) In any case in which there are amendments in disagreement, time on each amendment shall be limited to 30 minutes, to be equally divided between, and controlled by, the manager of the conference report and the minority leader or his designee. No amendment that is not germane to the provisions of such amendments shall be received. [[Page 1135]] consideration of the bill in the House (Speaker Albert, Mar. 25, 1975, pp. 8484-85). The privileged status given in section 1017(c)(1) to rescission bills within the 45-day period prescribed in section 1011 applies only to the initial consideration of the bill in the House, and consideration of a conference report on any bill containing rescissions of budget authority is subject only to the general rules of the House relating to conference reports and is not prevented by the expiration of the 45-day period following the initial Sec. 1130(6B) b. line item veto authority, Sec. Sec. 1021-27 [2 U.S.C. 691-91f] line item veto authority In Clinton v. City of New York, 524 U.S. 417 (1998), the Supreme Court held that the cancellation procedures of the Line Item Veto Act violated the presentment clause of article I, section 7 of the Constitution. During the period between the January 1, 1997, effective date of the Act and the Court decision, the President exercised his authority under the Act to cancel dollar amounts of discretionary budget authority (see e.g., H. Doc. 105-147), new direct spending (H. Doc. 105-115), and limited tax benefits (H. Doc. 105-116). Cancellations were effective unless disapproved by law (P.L. 105-159). Although the congressional review procedures remain in the law, the Court's decision makes it unlikely that they will be invoked. Accordingly their text is omitted here but may be found in pp. 1029-45 of the House Rules and Manual for the 105th Congress. The procedures may be summarized as follows: The cancellations were transmitted to the Congress by the President by a special message within five calendar days after the enactment of the law to which the cancellation applied. The Act provided for a congressional review period of 30 calendar days of session with expedited House consideration of bills disapproving the cancellations including: (1) prescribing the text (section 1026(6)); (2) referral to committee with directions to report within seven calendar days subject to a motion to discharge (section 1025(d)); (3) consideration of a disapproval bill in the Committee of the Whole with no amendment in order (except that a Member, supported by 49 other Members, could offer an amendment striking cancellations from the bill), and consideration of the bill for amendment limited to one hour (section 1025(d)); and (4) one-calendar- day availability for a conference report (section 1025(f)). The Act also provided for expedited procedures in the Senate, and was to have no force or effect after January 1, 2005. Sec. 1130(7)