United States Senate Committee on Appropriations
The United States Senate Committee on Appropriations is a standing committee of the United States Senate. It has jurisdiction over all discretionary spending legislation in the Senate.
The Senate Appropriations Committee is the largest committee in the U.S. Senate, with 30 members at the end of the 111th Congress. Its role is defined by the U.S. Constitution, which requires "appropriations made by law" prior to the expenditure of any money from the Treasury, and is therefore one of the most powerful committees in the Senate.[1] The committee was first organized on March 6, 1867, when power over appropriations was taken out of the hands of the Finance Committee.[2]
The chairman of the Appropriations Committee has enormous power to bring home special projects (sometimes referred to as "pork barrel spending") for his or her state as well as having the final say on other Senator's appropriation requests.[3] For example, in fiscal year 2005 per capita federal spending in Alaska, the home state of then-Chairman Ted Stevens, was $12,000, double the national average. Alaska has 11,772 special earmarked projects for a combined cost of $15,780,623,000. This represents about 4% of the overall spending in the $388 billion Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2005 passed by Congress.[4]
The appropriations process
The federal budget is divided into two main categories: discretionary spending and mandatory spending. Each appropriations subcommittee develops a draft appropriations bill covering each agency under its jurisdiction based on the Congressional Budget Resolution, which is drafted by an analogous Senate Budget committee. Each subcommittee must adhere to the spending limits set by the budget resolution and allocations set by the full Appropriations Committee, though the full Senate may vote to waive those limits if 60 senators vote to do so. The committee also reviews supplemental spending bills (covering unforeseen or emergency expenses not previously budgeted).
Each appropriations bill must be passed by both houses of Congress and signed by the president prior to the start of the federal fiscal year, October 1. If that target is not met, as has been common in recent years, the committee drafts a continuing resolution, which is then approved by Congress and signed by the President to keep the federal government operating until the individual bills are approved.
Members, 112th Congress
The Committee is currently chaired by Democrat Daniel Inouye of Hawaii, and the Ranking Member is Republican Thad Cochran, of Mississippi.
| Majority |
Minority |
- Daniel Inouye, Hawaii, Chairman
- Patrick Leahy, Vermont
- Tom Harkin, Iowa
- Barbara Mikulski, Maryland
- Herb Kohl, Wisconsin
- Patty Murray, Washington
- Dianne Feinstein, California
- Dick Durbin, Illinois
- Tim Johnson, South Dakota
- Mary Landrieu, Louisiana
- Jack Reed, Rhode Island
- Frank Lautenberg, New Jersey
- Ben Nelson, Nebraska
- Mark Pryor, Arkansas
- Jon Tester, Montana
- Sherrod Brown, Ohio
|
- Thad Cochran, Mississippi, Vice Chairman
- Mitch McConnell, Kentucky
- Richard Shelby, Alabama
- Kay Bailey Hutchison, Texas
- Lamar Alexander, Tennessee
- Susan Collins, Maine
- Lisa Murkowski, Alaska
- Lindsey Graham, South Carolina
- Mark Kirk, Illinois
- Dan Coats, Indiana
- Roy Blunt, Missouri
- Jerry Moran, Kansas
- John Hoeven, North Dakota
- Ron Johnson, Wisconsin
|
Source: 2011 Congressional Record, Vol. 157, Page S557
Subcommittees
| Subcommittee |
Chair |
Ranking Member |
| Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies |
Herb Kohl (D-WI) |
Roy Blunt (R-MO) |
| Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies |
Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) |
Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) |
| Defense |
Daniel Inouye (D-HI) |
Thad Cochran (R-MS) |
| Energy and Water Development |
Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) |
Lamar Alexander (R-TN) |
| Financial Services and General Government |
Dick Durbin (D-IL) |
Jerry Moran (R-KS) |
| Homeland Security |
Mary Landrieu (D-LA) |
Dan Coats (R-IN) |
| Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies |
Jack Reed (D-RI) |
Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) |
| Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies |
Tom Harkin (D-IA) |
Richard Shelby (R-AL) |
| Legislative Branch |
Ben Nelson (D-NE) |
John Hoeven (R-ND) |
| Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies |
Tim Johnson (D-SD) |
Mark Kirk (R-IL) |
| State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs |
Patrick Leahy (D-VT) |
Lindsey Graham (R-SC) |
| Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies |
Patty Murray (D-WA) |
Susan Collins (R-ME) |
Committee reorganization during the 110th Congress
At the outset of the 110th Congress, Chairman Robert Byrd and Chairman Dave Obey, his counterpart on the House Appropriations Committee, developed a committee reorganization plan that provided for common subcommittee structures between both houses, a move that the both chairmen hope will allow Congress to "complete action on each of the government funding on time for the first time since 1994."[5][6] The subcommittees were last overhauled between the 107th and 108th Congresses, after the creation of the Subcommittee on Homeland Security and again during the 109th Congress, when the number of subcommittees was reduced from 13 to 12.
A key part of the new subcommittee organization was the establishment of a new Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government, which consolidates funding for the Treasury Department, the United States federal judiciary, and the District of Columbia. These functions were previously handled by two separate Senate subcommittees.
Chairmen of the Appropriations Committee, 1867-present
See also
References
- ^ "Overview of the Committee's role". U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations. Archived from the original on October 13, 2005. http://web.archive.org/web/20051013065730/http://appropriations.senate.gov/jurisdiction/jurisdiction.htm. Retrieved October 14, 2005.
- ^ "Creation of the Senate Committee on Appropriations". U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations. Archived from the original on September 27, 2005. http://web.archive.org/web/20050927235752/http://appropriations.senate.gov/commhistory/commhistory.htm. Retrieved October 14, 2005.
- ^ Courtney Mabeus. "Buying Leadership". Capital Eye. http://www.capitaleye.org/inside.asp?ID=146. Retrieved October 14, 2005.
- ^ Rosenbaum, David E. (9 February 2005). "Call it Pork or Necessity, but Alaska Comes Out Far Above the Rest in Spending". New York Times. http://www.cepr.net/err/nytimesarticles/call_pork_11_29.htm.
- ^ "Senate, House Appropriations Set Subcommittee Plans for New Congress". U.S. House Committee on Appropriations. Archived from the original on January 31, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070131202605/http://appropriations.house.gov/News/pr_070104.shtml. Retrieved January 27, 2007.
- ^ "Senate Appropriations Subcommittee Rosters Set". National Thoroughbred Racing Association. http://www.ntra.com/content.aspx?type=pac&style=red&id=22762. Retrieved January 27, 2007.
Further reading
- Frumin, Alan S. "Appropriations" in Riddick's Senate Procedure, 150-213. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1992.
- Munson, Richard. The Cardinals of Capitol Hill; The Men and Women Who Control Government Spending. Grove Press, 1993. ISBN 0-8021-1460-1.
- Senate Committee on Appropriations. United States Senate Committee on Appropriations, United States Senate, 1867-2008. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 2008.
- Streeter, Sandy. The Congressional Appropriations Process: An Introduction. Washington, D.C.: Congressional Research Service, 2008.
External links