A Fast-Tracked Executive Rescission Review (AFTER) of Appropriations Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 5220 To amend the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 to provide for a legislative line-item veto to expedite consideration of rescissions, and cancellations of items of new direct spending and limited tax benefits. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES NOVEMBER 21, 2019 Mr. NORMAN (for himself, Mr. BIGGS, Mr. PERRY, Mr. KEVIN HERN of Okla- homa, and Mr. JOHNSON of Ohio) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Budget, and in addition to the Committee on Rules, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To amend the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Con- trol Act of 1974 to provide for a legislative line-item veto to expedite consideration of rescissions, and can- cellations of items of new direct spending and limited tax benefits. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:08 Dec 04, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5220.IH H5220 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 5220 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as ‘‘A Fast-Tracked Executive 2 Rescission Review (AFTER) of Appropriations Act of 3 2019’’. 4 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL CONSIDERATION OF PROPOSED 5 RESCISSIONS AND DEFERRALS OF BUDGET 6 AUTHORITY AND OBLIGATION LIMITATIONS. 7 Title X of the Congressional Budget and Impound- 8 ment Control Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 621 et seq.) is amend- 9 ed by striking all of part B (except for sections 1015, 10 1016, and 1013, which are transferred and redesignated 11 as sections 1017, 1018, and 1019, respectively) and part 12 C and by inserting after part A the following: 13 ‘‘PART B—CONGRESSIONAL CONSIDERATION OF PRO- 14 POSED RESCISSIONS AND DEFERRALS OF BUDGET 15 AUTHORITY AND OBLIGATION LIMITATIONS 16 ‘‘CONGRESSIONAL CONSIDERATION OF PROPOSED RESCIS- 17 SIONS AND DEFERRALS OF BUDGET AUTHORITY AND 18 OBLIGATION LIMITATIONS 19 ‘‘SEC. 1011. (a) PROPOSED RESCISSIONS.—Within 20 10 days after the enactment of any bill or joint resolution 21 providing any funding, the President may propose, in the 22 manner provided in subsection (b), the rescission of all or 23 part of any dollar amount of such funding or the cancella- 24 tion of any item of new direct spending or any limited 25 tax benefit. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:08 Dec 04, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5220.IH H5220 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 5220 IH ‘‘(b) SPECIAL MESSAGE.—If the President proposes 1 that Congress rescind funding, the President shall trans- 2 mit a special message to Congress containing the informa- 3 tion specified in this subsection. 4 ‘‘(1) PACKAGING OF REQUESTED RESCIS- 5 SIONS.—For each piece of legislation that provides 6 funding, the President may request any number of 7 packages of rescissions and the rescissions in each 8 package shall apply only to funding contained in 9 that legislation. The President shall not include the 10 same rescission in both packages. 11 ‘‘(2) TRANSMITTAL.—The President shall de- 12 liver each message requesting a package of rescis- 13 sions to the Secretary of the Senate if the Senate is 14 not in session and to the Clerk of the House of Rep- 15 resentatives if the House is not in session. The 16 President shall make a copy of the transmittal mes- 17 sage publicly available, and shall publish in the Fed- 18 eral Register a notice of the message and informa- 19 tion on how it can be obtained. 20 ‘‘(3) CONTENTS OF SPECIAL MESSAGE.—For 21 each request to rescind funding or cancel any item 22 of new direct spending or any limited tax benefit 23 under this part, the transmittal message shall— 24 ‘‘(A) specify— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:08 Dec 04, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5220.IH H5220 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 5220 IH ‘‘(i) the dollar amount to be re- 1 scinded, item of new direct spending, or 2 limited tax benefit to be canceled; 3 ‘‘(ii) the agency, bureau, and account 4 from which the rescission shall occur; 5 ‘‘(iii) the program, project, or activity 6 within the account (if applicable) from 7 which the rescission shall occur; 8 ‘‘(iv) the amount of funding, if any, 9 that would remain for the account, pro- 10 gram, project, or activity if the rescission 11 request is enacted; and 12 ‘‘(v) the reasons the President re- 13 quests the rescission or the cancellation; 14 and 15 ‘‘(B) designate each separate rescission re- 16 quest by number; and include proposed legisla- 17 tive text of an approval bill to accomplish the 18 requested rescissions which may not include— 19 ‘‘(i) any changes in existing law, other 20 than the rescission of funding; or 21 ‘‘(ii) any supplemental appropriations, 22 transfers, or reprogrammings. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:08 Dec 04, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5220.IH H5220 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 5220 IH ‘‘GRANTS OF AND LIMITATIONS ON PRESIDENTIAL 1 AUTHORITY 2 ‘‘SEC. 1012. (a) PRESIDENTIAL AUTHORITY TO 3 WITHHOLD FUNDING.—Notwithstanding any other provi- 4 sion of law and if the President proposes a rescission of 5 funding under this part, the President may, subject to the 6 time limits provided in subsection (c), temporarily with- 7 hold that funding from obligation. 8 ‘‘(b) WITHHOLDING AVAILABLE ONLY ONCE PER 9 PROPOSED RESCISSION.—Except as provided in section 10 1019, the President may not invoke the authority to with- 11 hold funding granted by subsection (a) for any other pur- 12 pose. 13 ‘‘(c) TIME LIMITS.—The President shall make avail- 14 able for obligation any funding withheld under subsection 15 (a) on the earliest of the 30th legislative day following— 16 ‘‘(1) the day on which the President determines 17 that the continued withholding or reduction no 18 longer advances the purpose of legislative consider- 19 ation of the approval bill; 20 ‘‘(2) the 30th day following the date of enact- 21 ment of the appropriations measure to which the ap- 22 proval bill relates; or 23 ‘‘(3) the last day that the President determines 24 the obligation of the funding in question can no 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:08 Dec 04, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5220.IH H5220 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 5220 IH longer be fully accomplished in a prudent manner 1 before its expiration. 2 ‘‘(d) DEFICIT REDUCTION.— 3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Funds that are rescinded 4 or canceled under this part shall be dedicated only 5 to reducing the deficit or increasing the surplus. 6 ‘‘(2) ADJUSTMENT OF LEVELS IN THE CONCUR- 7 RENT RESOLUTION ON THE BUDGET.—Not later 8 than 3 days of session after the date of enactment 9 of an approval bill as provided under this part, the 10 chairs of the Committees on the Budget of the Sen- 11 ate and the House of Representatives shall revise al- 12 locations and aggregates and other appropriate lev- 13 els under the appropriate concurrent resolution on 14 the budget to reflect the rescissions, and the Com- 15 mittees on Appropriations of the House of Rep- 16 resentatives and the Senate shall report revised sub- 17 allocations pursuant to section 302(b) of title III, as 18 appropriate. 19 ‘‘(3) ADJUSTMENTS TO STATUTORY LIMITS.— 20 Not later than 3 days after enactment of an ap- 21 proval bill provided under this section, the President 22 shall revise downward by the amount of the rescis- 23 sions applicable limits under the Balanced Budget 24 and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:08 Dec 04, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5220.IH H5220 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 5220 IH ‘‘PROCEDURES FOR EXPEDITED CONSIDERATION 1 ‘‘SEC. 1013. (a) EXPEDITED CONSIDERATION.— 2 ‘‘(1) INTRODUCTION OF APPROVAL BILL.—Any 3 Member of each House may (by request) introduce 4 an approval bill as defined in section 1015 not later 5 than the third day of session of that House after the 6 date of receipt of a special message transmitted to 7 the Congress under section 1011(b). 8 ‘‘(2) CONSIDERATION IN THE HOUSE OF REP- 9 RESENTATIVES.— 10 ‘‘(A) REFERRAL AND REPORTING.—Any 11 committee of the House of Representatives to 12 which an approval bill is referred shall report it 13 to the House without amendment not later than 14 the third legislative day after the date of its in- 15 troduction. If a committee fails to report the 16 bill within that period or the House has adopt- 17 ed a concurrent resolution providing for ad- 18 journment sine die at the end of a Congress, 19 such committee shall be automatically dis- 20 charged from further consideration of the bill 21 and it shall be placed on the appropriate cal- 22 endar. 23 ‘‘(B) PROCEEDING TO CONSIDERATION.— 24 Not later than 3 legislative days after the ap- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:08 Dec 04, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5220.IH H5220 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •HR 5220 IH proval bill is reported or a committee has been 1 discharged from further consideration thereof, 2 it shall be in order to move to proceed to con- 3 sider the approval bill in the House. Such a mo- 4 tion shall be in order only at a time designated 5 by the Speaker in the legislative schedule within 6 2 legislative days after the day on which the 7 proponent announces an intention to the House 8 to offer the motion provided that such notice 9 may not be given until the approval bill is re- 10 ported or a committee has been discharged 11 from further consideration thereof. Such a mo- 12 tion shall not be in order after the House has 13 disposed of a motion to proceed with respect to 14 that special message. The previous question 15 shall be considered as ordered on the motion to 16 its adoption without intervening motion. A mo- 17 tion to reconsider the vote by which the motion 18 is disposed of shall not be in order. 19 ‘‘(C) CONSIDERATION.—If the motion to 20 proceed is agreed to, the House shall imme- 21 diately proceed to consider the approval bill in 22 the House without intervening motion. The ap- 23 proval bill shall be considered as read. All 24 points of order against the approval bill and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:08 Dec 04, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5220.IH H5220 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •HR 5220 IH against its consideration are waived. The pre- 1 vious question shall be considered as ordered on 2 the approval bill to its passage without inter- 3 vening motion except 2 hours of debate equally 4 divided and controlled by the proponent and an 5 opponent and one motion to limit debate on the 6 bill. A motion to reconsider the vote on passage 7 of the approval bill shall not be in order. 8 ‘‘(3) CONSIDERATION IN THE SENATE.— 9 ‘‘(A) COMMITTEE ACTION.—The appro- 10 priate committee of the Senate shall report 11 without amendment the approval bill as defined 12 in section 1015(2) not later than the third ses- 13 sion day after introduction. If a committee fails 14 to report the approval bill within that period or 15 the Senate has adopted a concurrent resolution 16 providing for adjournment sine die at the end 17 of a Congress, the Committee shall be auto- 18 matically discharged from further consideration 19 of the approval bill and it shall be placed on the 20 appropriate calendar. 21 ‘‘(B) MOTION TO PROCEED.—Not later 22 than 3 session days after the approval bill is re- 23 ported in the Senate or the committee has been 24 discharged thereof, it shall be in order for any 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:08 Dec 04, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5220.IH H5220 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •HR 5220 IH Senator to move to proceed to consider the ap- 1 proval bill in the Senate. The motion shall be 2 decided without debate and the motion to re- 3 consider shall be deemed to have been laid on 4 the table. Such a motion shall not be in order 5 after the Senate has disposed of a prior motion 6 to proceed with respect to the approval bill. 7 ‘‘(C) CONSIDERATION.—If a motion to 8 proceed to the consideration of the approval bill 9 is agreed to, the Senate shall immediately pro- 10 ceed to consideration of the approval bill with- 11 out intervening motion, order, or other busi- 12 ness, and the approval bill shall remain the un- 13 finished business of the Senate until disposed 14 of. Consideration on the bill in the Senate 15 under this subsection, and all debatable motions 16 and appeals in connection therewith, shall not 17 exceed 10 hours equally divided in the usual 18 form. All points of order against the approval 19 bill or its consideration are waived. Consider- 20 ation in the Senate on any debatable motion or 21 appeal in connection with the approval bill shall 22 be limited to not more than 1 hour. A motion 23 to postpone, or a motion to proceed to the con- 24 sideration of other business, or a motion to re- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:08 Dec 04, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5220.IH H5220 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •HR 5220 IH commit the approval bill is not in order. A mo- 1 tion to reconsider the vote by which the ap- 2 proval bill is agreed to or disagreed to is not in 3 order. 4 ‘‘(4) AMENDMENTS PROHIBITED.—No amend- 5 ment to, or motion to strike a provision from, an ap- 6 proval bill considered under this section shall be in 7 order in either the Senate or the House of Rep- 8 resentatives. 9 ‘‘(5) COORDINATION WITH ACTION BY OTHER 10 HOUSE.— 11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If, before passing the 12 approval bill, one House receives from the other 13 a bill— 14 ‘‘(i) the approval bill of the other 15 House shall not be referred to a com- 16 mittee; and 17 ‘‘(ii) the procedure in the receiving 18 House shall be the same as if no approval 19 bill had been received from the other 20 House until the vote on passage, when the 21 bill received from the other House shall 22 supplant the approval bill of the receiving 23 House. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:08 Dec 04, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5220.IH H5220 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 12 •HR 5220 IH ‘‘(B) This paragraph shall not apply to the 1 House of Representatives. 2 ‘‘(b) LIMITATION.—Subsection (a) shall apply only to 3 an approval bill, as such term is defined in section 4 1015(2), introduced pursuant to subsection (a)(1). 5 ‘‘(c) EXTENDED TIME PERIOD.—If Congress ad- 6 journs at the end of a Congress prior to the expiration 7 of the periods described in sections 1012(c)(2) and 1014 8 and an approval bill was [Text truncated for display. 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