United States Senate Committee on Appropriations

Committee information

  • Date created: March 6, 1867
  • Members: Twenty-nine members in the 119th Congress (2025–2027)
  • Subcommittees: Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies; Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies; Defense; Energy and Water Development; Financial Services and General Government; Homeland Security; Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies; Labor, Health and Human Services Education, and Related Agencies; Legislative Branch; Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies; State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs; Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies

Role

The United States Senate Committee on Appropriations is the largest standing committee in the Senate. The purpose of the committee is to examine executive agency budget estimates, and in doing so, control the appropriations process and manage government spending.

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Appropriations bills are part of the government budget and spending process. They are passed in conjunction with the president’s budget proposal, congressional budget resolutions, and 302(b) allocations, named after section 302(b) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974. As set out in Article One of the US Constitution, section 9, clause 7, “No money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law...” This article gives Congress the power to create spending bills, although the president still has the power to veto any appropriations bills.

Each year, a federal budget for the upcoming fiscal year is passed, and the Senate Appropriations Committee receives information about what the spending allowances should be. These are known as 302(b) allocations. That total amount is then separated into smaller amounts for each of the twelve subcommittees. Those become a guide for Congress in making appropriations decisions. The House and Senate consider appropriations bills simultaneously, according to the subcommittees each bill relates to. The Senate Committee on Appropriations usually reports the appropriations bills in June, after the corresponding committee in the House reports each bill. Any differences between appropriations bills passed by the House and the Senate are negotiated in the fall.

An appropriations bill is a bill that sets money aside for the budgets of specific federal departments, agencies, organizations, and programs. The money provides funding for operational activities such as personnel, equipment, and other needs. Regular appropriations bills are passed each year, with the funding they provide covering the upcoming fiscal year. The fiscal year is the accounting period of the federal government and runs from October 1 to September 30.

There are three types of appropriations bills. The first are regular appropriations bills, which are the twelve standard bills that cover the funding for the federal government for one fiscal year. These are supposed to be enacted into law by October 1. The second are continuing resolution bills, which temporarily continue appropriations at the same levels as the previous fiscal year if Congress has not enacted the regular appropriations bills. The third are supplemental appropriations bills, which add additional emergency funding to what was originally appropriated at the beginning of the fiscal year. These bills are typically passed to provide money for things such as natural disasters.

Because the Senate Appropriations Committee is so large and powerful, its members have increased power to earmark special projects for their home states. These funds are sometimes called “pork barrel spending.” For example, in fiscal year 2005, per capita federal spending in Alaska was double the national average because it was the home state of then-acting Appropriations Committee Chairman Ted Stevens.

History

The Senate Committee on Appropriations dates back to March 1867, when it was proposed by Senator Henry B. Anthony of Rhode Island. The committee had seven members to help separate the tax-writing and appropriations process to match the appropriations committee the House had established two years earlier. To handle the varied appropriation bills, the committee established thirteen subcommittees, with three members assigned to each one.

Creation of this Committee also required a resolution amending Rule 30 of the Senate to state: “And all amendments to general appropriation bills reported from the committees of the Senate, proposing new items of appropriation, shall, 1 day before they are offered, be referred to the Committee on Appropriations; and all general appropriation bills shall be referred to the said committee.” This resolution allowed the Senate Appropriations Committee the opportunity to examine all proposed amendments, thus preventing spontaneous floor amendments.

Further changes were implemented to this committee later to better align the appropriations committees of the Senate and House. The subcommittees were reorganized before the 108th Congress (2003-2005) after the creation of the Subcommittee on Homeland Security. The subcommittees were again altered during the 109th Congress (2005-2007) when the number of subcommittees was reduced to twelve. At the beginning of the 110th Congress (2007-2009), members of the Senate and House appropriations committees developed a plan to reorganize both committees to provide for a common subcommittee structure to improve efficiency. Both chambers combined two subcommittees to establish a new Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government, which consolidated funding for the Treasury Department, the federal judiciary, and the District of Columbia.

Subcommittees

The Senate Appropriations Committee was comprised of thirty-one members and twelve standing subcommittees as of the 116th Congress (2019). The Senate and House committees have matching subcommittees, each of which is tasked with working on one of the twelve annual regular appropriations bills. This allows the House and Senate to have joint jurisdiction over all appropriations bills in the US Congress.

This subcommittee was originally known as the Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, and Related Services before being renamed in 2007 to more accurately reflect the programs it oversees. It has jurisdiction over budgeting for the US Department of Agriculture’s discretionary spending, Rural Development programs—such as those that provide housing, utilities, and electricity—and the Food and Drug Administration’s food safety programs and foreign agriculture assistance programs.

This subcommittee was formerly known as the Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, State, and the Judiciary during the 108th Congress (2003-2005). Some of its former responsibilities are now handled by other subcommittees. It is often referred to as the Commerce, Justice, and Science Subcommittee, or CJS, since this subcommittee oversees the budget for the Department of Commerce, the Department of Justice, and science policy of the United States.

The subcommittee has jurisdiction over commerce, justice, and science-related departments and independent federal agencies, such as the International Trade Commission, the Bureau of Prisons, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the National Science Foundation, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the US Commission on Civil Rights.

United States Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense

This subcommittee has jurisdiction over military defense spending, which is one of the largest classes of federal discretionary spending. Most spending is categorized by budget analysts as defense or non-defense. Although the groundwork for military funding is delineated in the Constitution, Congress has the authority to set the budget for military spending for the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, National Guard, and Air Force, as well as military organizations such as the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

United States Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development

This subcommittee has the funding of the Department of Energy and water development projects under its jurisdiction. It oversees federal energy agencies, such as the Tennessee Valley Authority, federal power marketing administrations, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. In addition, it has budgeting responsibilities for civil works water projects under the US Army Corps of Engineers and the Interior Department’s Bureau of Reclamation.

United States Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government

This Subcommittee was known as the Subcommittee on the District of Columbia until 1977. Despite the name change, it still has jurisdiction over the budget and spending of the city of Washington, DC. In addition, it handles the funding of general provisions of the federal government, including the discretionary spending of the Treasury Department and the federal judiciary. This subcommittee also oversees funding for the Executive Office of the President, the Office of Management and Budget, and other independent federal agencies, including the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Communications Commission, the National Archives and Records Administration, the Federal Election Commission, and Office of National Drug Control Policy.

United States Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security

This subcommittee was created in 2003 in response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. It has jurisdiction over national security programs and the Department of Homeland Security. Other related agencies are also included in this subcommittee’s oversight, such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Transportation Security Administration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Citizenship and Immigration Services, Customs and Border Protection, the Secret Service, and the Coast Guard.

This Subcommittee was previously known as the Subcommittee on Interior and Related Agencies. It was renamed to better describe its control over funding for federal environmental programs and to more closely match the House Appropriations Committee. Other energy budget responsibilities outside of these parameters were consolidated into the Energy and Water Development Subcommittee in 2005.

This subcommittee’s jurisdiction includes most Department of Interior discretionary spending, funding for the Forest Service within the Department of Agriculture, and Indigenous American programs such as the Interior Department’s Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Indian Health Service. The subcommittee also oversees federally run cultural and historical agencies such as the Smithsonian Institute.

This subcommittee has jurisdiction for funding of the Departments of Education, Health and Human Services, and Labor. It is also responsible for related agencies, including the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the Corporation for National and Community Service, the Mine Safety and Health Administration, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

United States Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch

This subcommittee is responsible for funding the activities and operations of Congress. It recommends funding for several joint Congressional agencies, including the Library of Congress, Capitol Police, Congressional Budget Office, Government Accountability Office, and the Capitol Visitors Center. However, this committee does not usually have jurisdiction over the operational budget of the House of Representatives. It does provide a budget for Senate personnel, including an official expense allowance for each senator.

This subcommittee has jurisdiction for funding the Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Defense construction activities, including military housing. It also handles activities related to base closures and changes, the American Battle Monuments Commission, and the US Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims.

This subcommittee oversees the funding of the State Department and other international programs and agencies. It also has budget jurisdiction of the Peace Corps, the Export-Import Bank, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, and the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, as well as handling financial contributions to the International Monetary Fund and the United Nations.

This committee was first known as the Subcommittee on Transportation, Treasury, the Judiciary, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies, but its name was changed when responsibility for Treasury and Judiciary funding was transferred to another subcommittee in 2007. This subcommittee has jurisdiction over funding for the Department of Transportation and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. In addition, it oversees funding for the Federal Housing Administration and economic and community development programs, such as Community Development Block Grants. Other federal agencies under its jurisdiction are the National Transportation Safety Board, the Federal Aviation Administration, and the Surface Transportation Board.

Bibliography

“Committee History.” United States Senate Committee on Appropriations, www.appropriations.senate.gov/about/history. Accessed 20 Jan. 2025.

“Committee Membership List.” United State Senate, www.senate.gov/general/committee‗membership/committee‗memberships‗SSAP.htm. Accessed 20 Jan. 2025.

Hecker, Siegfred S. “Hearing of the United States Senate Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development.” Center for International Security and Cooperation, 30 Apr. 2008, cisac.fsi.stanford.edu/publications/hearing‗of‗the‗united‗states‗senate‗committee‗on‗appropriations‗subcommittee‗on‗energy‗and‗water‗development. Accessed 20 Jan. 2025.

Heitshusen, Valerie. “Committee Types and Roles.” Congressional Research Service, 2 May 2017, crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/RS/98-241. Accessed 20 Jan. 2025.

“Senate Appropriations Committee.” Congress.gov, www.congress.gov/committee/senate-appropriations/ssap00. Accessed 20 Jan. 2025.

Shutt, Jennifer. “Richard Shelby Officially in as Senate Appropriations Chairman: GOP Colleagues Ratify Powerful Committee’s Vote.” Roll Call, 10 Apr. 2018, rollcall.com/2018/04/10/richard-shelby-officially-in-as-senate-appropriations-chairman. Accessed 20 Jan. 2025.

“Subcommittees.” United States Senate Committee on Appropriations, www.appropriations.senate.gov/subcommittees. Accessed 20 Jan. 2025.