United States Senate Committee on the Budget

The United States Senate Committee on Budget was established by the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974. It is responsible for drafting Congress's annual budget plan and monitoring action on the budget for the Federal Government. The committee has jurisdiction over the Congressional Budget Office. The committee briefly operated as a special committee from 1919 to 1920 during the 66th Congress, before being made a standing committee in 1974.[1]

Contents

Contrasted with other committees

The Budget Committee is often confused with the Finance Committee and the Appropriations Committee, both of which have different jurisdictions: The Finance Committee is analogous to the Ways and Means Committee in the House of Representatives; it has legislative jurisdiction in the areas of taxes, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and some other entitlements. The Appropriations Committee has legislative jurisdiction over appropriations bills, which provide funding for government programs.

While the budget resolution prepared by the Budget Committee sets out a broad blueprint for the Congress with respect to the total levels of revenues and spending for the government as a whole, these other Committees prepare the legislation that actually enacts specific tax and spending policies.

Members, 112th Congress

The Committee is chaired by Democrat Kent Conrad of North Dakota, and the Ranking Member is Republican Jeff Sessions of Alabama.

Majority Minority

Source: 2011 Congressional Record, Vol. 157, Page S557 ; S.Res. 179

Chairmen, 1975-present

Chairman Party State Years
  Edmund S. Muskie Democratic Maine 1975–1980
  Ernest F. Hollings Democratic South Carolina 1980–1981
  Pete V. Domenici Republican New Mexico 1981–1987
  Lawton M. Chiles Democratic Florida 1987–1989
  James R. Sasser Democratic Tennessee 1989–1995
  Pete V. Domenici Republican New Mexico 1995 – January 3, 2001
  Kent Conrad Democratic North Dakota January 3, 2001 – January 20, 2001
  Pete V. Domenici Republican New Mexico January 20, 2001 – June 21, 2001
  Kent Conrad Democratic North Dakota June 21, 2001 – 2003
  Donald L. Nickles Republican Oklahoma 2003–2005
  Judd A. Gregg Republican New Hampshire 2005–2007
  Kent Conrad Democrat North Dakota 2007–present

External links

Notes

  1. ^ Walter Stubbs (1985), Congressional Committees, 1789–1982: A Checklist, Greenwood Press, pp. 16–17 
  2. ^ Bernie Sanders is an Independent, but counts as a Democrat in committee assignments.
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