[Constitution, Jefferson's Manual, and the Rules of the House of Representatives, 113th Congress]
[113rd Congress]
[House Document 112-161]
[Legislate Procedures Enacted in Law]
[Pages 1138-1145]
[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        be rescinded in a special message transmitted by the President 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 1139]]

        disapproval of a proposed deferral

        of budget authority set 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 1140]]

        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, 


[[Page 1141]]

        economic, and budgetary effect of the proposed deferral; 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 1142]]

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 1143]]

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 1144]]

  (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 1145]]

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)