The Budget Reconciliation Process: House and Senate Procedures (CRS Report for Congress)
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| Release Date |
Aug. 10, 2005 |
| Report Number |
RL33030 |
| Report Type |
Report |
| Authors |
Robert Keith and Bill Henniff, Jr., Government and Finance Division |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
Summary:
The budget reconciliation process is an optional procedure that operates as an adjunct to the
budget
resolution process established by the Congressional Budget Act of 1974. The chief purpose of the
reconciliation process is to enhance Congress's ability to change current law in order to bring
revenue, spending, and debt-limit levels into conformity with the policies of the annual budget
resolution.
Reconciliation is a two-stage process. First, reconciliation directives are included in the budget
resolution, instructing the appropriate committees to develop legislation achieving the desired
budgetary outcomes. If the budget resolution instructs more than one committee in a chamber, then
the instructed committees submit their legislative recommendations to their respective Budget
Committees by the deadline prescribed in the budget resolution; the Budget Committees incorporate
them into an omnibus budget reconciliation bill without making any substantive revisions. In cases
where only one committee has been instructed, the process allows that committee to report its
reconciliation legislation directly to its parent chamber, thus bypassing the Budget Committee.
The second step involves consideration of the resultant reconciliation legislation by the House
and Senate under expedited procedures. Among other things, debate in the Senate on any
reconciliation measure is limited to 20 hours (and 10 hours on a conference report) and amendments
must be germane and not include extraneous matter. The House Rules Committee typically
recommends a special rule for the consideration of a reconciliation measure in the House that places
restrictions on debate time and the offering of amendments.
As an optional procedure, reconciliation has not been used in every year that the congressional
budget process has been in effect. Beginning with the first use of reconciliation by both the House
and Senate in 1980, however, reconciliation has been used in most years. In three years, 1998 (for
FY1999), 2002 (for FY2003), and 2004 (for FY2005), the House and Senate did not agree on a
budget resolution. Congress has sent the President 19 reconciliation acts over the years; 16 were
signed into law and three were vetoed (and the vetoes not overriden).
Following an introduction that provides an overview of the reconciliation process and discusses
its historical development, the report explains the process in sections dealing with the underlying
authorities, reconciliation directives in budget resolutions, initial consideration of reconciliation
measures in the House and Senate, resolving House-Senate differences on reconciliation measures,
and presidential approval or disapproval of such measures. The text of two relevant sections of the
Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (Sections 310 and 313) is set forth in the appendices, along with
a list of other Congressional Research Service products pertaining to reconciliation procedures.
This report will be updated as developments warrant.
