From the Congressional Glossary – Including Legislative and Budget Terms Constitutional Authority Statement photo credit: _BuBBy_ On January 5, 2011, the House of Representatives adopted an amendment to House Rule XII adding a requirement to all measures introduced in the House of Representatives that are intended to become law. Specifically, Rule XII, clause 7(c) requires … Read more
From the Congressional Glossary – Including Legislative and Budget Terms Quorum photo credit: ateneinrivolta Quorum, n. A sufficient number of members of a deliberative body to have their own way and their own way of having it. In the United States Senate a quorum consists of the Chairman of the Committee on Finance and a … Read more
From the Congressional Glossary – Including Legislative and Budget Terms Scheduling photo credit: CarbonNYC Senate practice today generally concedes to the Majority Leader the prerogative of arranging the floor schedule of the Senate and making unanimous consent requests and motions to proceed to consider bills and other items of business. The Majority Leader is also … Read more
From the Congressional Glossary – Including Legislative and Budget Terms “Emergency” Spending / Emergency photo credit: vonderauvisuals Spending with the “emergency” designation does not count against budget caps. While often used for one-time, unforeseen events, this designation has also been used to circumvent budget limits. For example, spending for the census has been designated as … Read more
From the Congressional Glossary – Including Legislative and Budget Terms President of the Senate / President Pro Tempore photo credit: gualtiero President of the Senate: Under the Constitution (Article I, Section 3), the Vice President of the United States presides over the Senate and is allowed to cast a vote in the event of a … Read more
From the Congressional Glossary – Including Legislative and Budget Terms Ex Officio photo credit: cwasteson Literally, by virtue of one’s office. The term refers to the practice under Senate rules that allows the chairman and ranking minority member of a committee to participate in any of the subcommittees of that committee, but generally not to … Read more
From the Congressional Glossary – Including Legislative and Budget Terms Appropriation Act / Appropriation Bill / Continuing Resolution / Continuing Appropriations photo credit: BarelyFitz Appropriation Act: A statute, under the jurisdiction of the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations, that generally provides legal authority for federal agencies to incur obligations and to make payments out … Read more
From the Congressional Glossary – Including Legislative and Budget Terms Appropriation / Cardinals of Congress David Hawkings’ Whiteboard: How Appropriations is Supposed to Work Appropriation: Provision of law that provides authority for federal agencies to obligate funds and to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. Appropriations for the federal government … Read more
From the Congressional Glossary – Including Legislative and Budget Terms Appeal photo credit: mikecogh A member’s challenge of a ruling or decision made by the presiding officer of the chamber. In the Senate, when the chair rules on a point of order, any senator may appeal the ruling. The full Senate makes a final decision … Read more
From the Congressional Glossary – Including Legislative and Budget Terms Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute / Committee Substitute Full Committee Markup: FY 2018 Defense & Legislative Branch Appropriations Bill Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute: Usually an amendment that seeks to replace the entire text of a bill. Passage of … Read more