Budget Process

Budget Request
In the winter months, between the start of a new fiscal year on October 1 and the beginning of the New Year, the Administration under the direction of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) puts together a budget blueprint for the entire Federal Budget.

Budget Resolution
Before Congress begins work on the appropriations bills, it must first set a budget for the fiscal year, following the schedule outlined below.

1. On the first Monday in February, the President submits a budget request to Congress.
2. The House and Senate Budget Committees hold hearings to put together a budget resolution, which set limits or caps on how much discretionary spending is available (302(a) allocation) and makes recommendations on the allocations for categories of spending called Functions (302(b) allocations). The International Affairs Budget is often referred to as Function 150.
3. Each chamber passes a budget resolution, which can often have different allocations.
4. A joint House-Senate Budget Conference Committee meets after the two budget resolutions are passed to resolve differences between the House and Senate budgets to create a Joint Budget Resolution.
5. The full House and Senate must pass a Concurrent Budget Resolution by or on April 15th.

Appropriations
Once a budget resolution has passed, the action then turns to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees.  Each committee is responsible for setting the overall spending caps (also known as “302(b) allocations”) for each of the 12 Appropriations subcommittees. Subcommittee Chairmen, often referred to as the Appropriations Cardinals, are then responsible for writing the appropriations bills that fund the federal government.

The 302(b) allocations (spending caps) set a limit as to how much each subcommittee can spend on discretionary programs.  The International Affairs Budget is primarily funded through three bills:

1. The State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs bill, the largest component of the International Affairs Budget;
2. The Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies bill, which funds all of our international food aid; and
3. The Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies bill, which funds a portion of the U.S. contribution to the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, Malaria, and Tuberculosis.

Once the spending caps are determined by the full Committee, each subcommittee then writes its respective bill. These bills provide the funding allocations for all of the programs within the subcommittee’s purview, following this general schedule:

1. Three House and Senate Appropriations Subcommittees must pass spending bills to fund the programs contained in the International Affairs Budget. The House may begin considering Appropriations bills on May 15th, regardless whether or not a budget resolution has passed. The Senate often begins the Appropriations process several weeks later. Congress has until September 30th to pass all of the appropriations bills before the start of the next fiscal year.
2. After each bill is passed out of the subcommittees, it is then passed by the full committee and then must be passed by each chamber.
3. Once the House and Senate have passed their respective appropriations bills, a House-Senate Conference Committee for each bill meets to resolves differences between the two versions of the appropriations bills.
4. The full House and Senate then vote on final bills.

Final Approval
The President signs the Appropriations bills into law.

Exceptions

1. If Congress fails to complete all of the appropriations bills by September 30th:
   Congress may pass what is known as a Continuing Resolution (CR), which keeps the federal government operating for a specific period of time at current spending levels or other levels as specified in the resolution.
2. If Congress fails to pass all of the individual appropriations bills:
   In the interest of expediency, several bills may be rolled into one or more larger “Omnibus” bills.