Appropriations

Annual Congressional Appropriations Timeline

Below is an estimated timeline of the annual appropriations process. The timeline does vary from year to year.

February
President’s annual budget request is released to Congress in early February.

April
Congressional budget resolutions that set the overall budget are approved by the House and the Senate.

May-July

• The markup of the appropriations bills in the House happen during May and June. A markup is when the committee reviews a bill and makes recommendations before sending it to the full House.
• Each of the 13 appropriations bills go to the House floor for a vote by the full House in June.
• The markup of the appropriations bills in the Senate happens during June and July.
• Each of the 13 appropriations bills go to the Senate floor for a vote by the full Senate in July.

August
The House and Senate adjourn for summer recess.

September-October

• After the House and the Senate pass their respective appropriations bills, each bill goes to conference where representatives from the House and the Senate agree on the final funding numbers. The goal is for this to happen in September.
• The final budget is supposed to be signed before October 1. However, if the budget is not signed by October 1, “Continuing Resolutions” allows the federal government to continue working under the previous year’s budget authority until their appropriations for the current fiscal year are approved.

For more information about the Congressional Budget process, please visit http://www.house.gov/rules_bud/annual.htm.