Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974
From Free net encyclopedia
Current revision
The Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 is a United States federal law specifying that the President may propose to Congress that funds be rescinded. If both the Senate and the House of Representatives have not approved a rescission proposal (by passing legislation) within 45 days of continuous session, any funds being withheld must be made available for obligation. Note that Congress is not required to vote on such a proposal, and indeed most Presidential requests have been ignored. In response, some citizens and politicans have called for a line item veto to strengthen the rescission power and force Congress to vote on the disputed funds. The Act was passed in response to Congressional feelings that President Nixon was abusing his ability to impound the funding of programs he opposed, and effectively removed the historical Presidential power of impoundment.
In addition, the act reforms the United States budget process to create a unified process that consolidated the various congressional committees that were responsible for some aspect of the budget before.
The act has been amended several times, especially through provisions in the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 and the Budget Enforcement Act of 1990. The original 1974 legislation, however, remains the basic blueprint for budget procedures today.