Omnibus Appropriations: Overview of Recent Practice (CRS Report for Congress)
| Release Date |
Revised Aug. 14, 2024 |
| Report Number |
IN12324 |
| Report Type |
Insight |
| Authors |
Drew C. Aherne |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
| Older Revisions |
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Summary:
Congress makes decisions on discretionary spending through the annual appropriations process, which
currently consists of the development and consideration of 12 regular appropriations bills for each fiscal
year. Historically, regular appropriations bills were considered individually and enacted as standalone
laws. In recent practice, however, Congress has often taken procedural action at some point in the
appropriations process to combine some or all of the regular appropriations bills into a single measure.
These measures are commonly referred to as “omnibus” or “consolidated” appropriations measures.
(Consolidated appropriations legislation containing only some of the regular appropriations bills may also
be referred to as a “minibus.”)
Omnibus appropriations measures have played a significant role in completing the appropriations process
for many fiscal years in recent decades. This has been particularly true since FY1997, the last time all
regular appropriations were enacted by the October 1 start of the fiscal year. Since then, Congress has
passed continuing resolutions (CRs) to provide interim funding beyond October 1 until regular
appropriations have been enacted. For many fiscal years over this period, minimal progress on the
consideration of some or all regular appropriations bills, paired with impending funding deadlines, has
made the legislative efficiency associated with omnibus measures advantageous or necessary for
completing the appropriations process. As a result, most regular appropriations bills signed into law in
recent decades have been enacted as part of omnibus measures.
This Insight examines three issues related to omnibus appropriations that have been of congressional
interest: the frequency of enacting omnibus appropriations, the extent to which Congress considered
regular appropriations bills prior to including them in omnibus measures, and the inclusion of unrelated
legislative provisions in such measures.
