Congressional Power of the Purse Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6628 To amend the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 to strengthen congressional control and review, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 28, 2020 Mr. YARMUTH (for himself, Mrs. LOWEY, and Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Budget, and in addition to the Committees on Over- sight and Reform, Transportation and Infrastructure, Rules, Foreign Af- fairs, Ways and Means, and the Judiciary, for a period to be subse- quently 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 strengthen congressional control and review, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4 ‘‘Congressional Power of the Purse Act’’. 5 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 6 this Act is as follows: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:03 May 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6628.IH H6628 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6628 IH Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. TITLE I—STRENGTHENING CONGRESSIONAL CONTROL AND REVIEW TO PREVENT IMPOUNDMENT Sec. 101. Strengthening congressional control. Sec. 102. Strengthening congressional review. Sec. 103. Updated authorities for and reporting by the Comptroller General. Sec. 104. Advance congressional notification and litigation. Sec. 105. Penalties for failure to comply with the Impoundment Control Act of 1974. TITLE II—STRENGTHENING TRANSPARENCY AND REPORTING Subtitle A—Funds Management and Reporting to the Congress Sec. 201. Expired balance reporting in the President’s budget. Sec. 202. Cancelled balance reporting in the President’s budget. Sec. 203. Lapse in appropriations reporting in the President’s budget. Sec. 204. Transfer and other repurposing authority reporting in the President’s budget. Sec. 205. Authorizing cancellations in indefinite accounts by appropriation. Subtitle B—Empowering Congressional Review Through Nonpartisan Congressional Agencies and Transparency Initiatives Sec. 211. Requirement to respond to requests for information from the Govern- ment Accountability Office for budget and appropriations law decisions. Sec. 212. Reporting requirements for Antideficiency Act violations. Sec. 213. Department of Justice reporting to Congress for Antideficiency Act violations. Sec. 214. Publication of budget or appropriations law opinions of the Depart- ment of Justice Office of Legal Counsel. TITLE III—STRENGTHENING CONGRESSIONAL ROLE IN AND OVERSIGHT OF EMERGENCY DECLARATIONS AND DESIGNATIONS Sec. 301. Improving checks and balances on the use of the National Emer- gencies Act. Sec. 302. National Emergencies Act declaration spending reporting in the President’s budget. Sec. 303. Emergency and overseas contingency operations designations by Con- gress in statute. VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:03 May 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\H6628.IH H6628 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6628 IH TITLE I—STRENGTHENING CON- 1 GRESSIONAL CONTROL AND 2 REVIEW TO PREVENT IM- 3 POUNDMENT 4 SEC. 101. STRENGTHENING CONGRESSIONAL CONTROL. 5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Impoundment Control Act of 6 1974 (2 U.S.C. 681 et seq.) is amended by adding at the 7 end the following: 8 ‘‘PRUDENT OBLIGATION OF BUDGET AUTHORITY AND 9 SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS FOR EXPIRING BUDGET 10 AUTHORITY 11 ‘‘SEC. 1018. (a) SPECIAL MESSAGE REQUIRE- 12 MENT.—With respect to budget authority proposed to be 13 rescinded or that is set to be reserved or proposed to be 14 deferred in a special message transmitted under section 15 1012 or 1013, such budget authority— 16 ‘‘(1) shall be made available for obligation in 17 sufficient time to be prudently obligated as required 18 under section 1012(b) or 1013; and 19 ‘‘(2) may not be deferred or otherwise withheld 20 from obligation during the 90-day period before the 21 expiration of the period of availability of such budget 22 authority, including, if applicable, the 90-day period 23 before the expiration of an initial period of avail- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:03 May 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6628.IH H6628 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 6628 IH ability for which such budget authority was pro- 1 vided. 2 ‘‘(b) ADMINISTRATIVE REQUIREMENT.—With respect 3 to an apportionment of an appropriation (as that term is 4 defined in section 1511 of title 31, United States Code) 5 made pursuant to section 1512 of such title, an appropria- 6 tion shall be apportioned— 7 ‘‘(1) to make available all amounts for obliga- 8 tion in sufficient time to be prudently obligated; and 9 ‘‘(2) to make available all amounts for obliga- 10 tion, without precondition or limitation (including 11 footnotes) that shall be met prior to obligation, not 12 later than 90 days before the expiration of the pe- 13 riod of availability of such appropriation, including, 14 if applicable, 90 days before the expiration of an ini- 15 tial period of availability for which such appropria- 16 tion was provided.’’. 17 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 18 of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control 19 Act of 1974 set forth in section 1(b) of such Act is amend- 20 ed by adding after the item relating to section 1017 the 21 following: 22 ‘‘1018. Prudent obligation of budget authority and specific requirements for ex- piring budget authority.’’. VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:03 May 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\H6628.IH H6628 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 6628 IH SEC. 102. STRENGTHENING CONGRESSIONAL REVIEW. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Impoundment Control Act of 2 1974 (2 U.S.C. 681 et seq.), as amended by section 3 101(a), is further amended by adding at the end the fol- 4 lowing: 5 ‘‘REPORTING 6 ‘‘SEC. 1019. (a) APPORTIONMENT OF APPROPRIA- 7 TIONS.— 8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days 9 after the date of enactment of this section, the Of- 10 fice of Management and Budget shall complete im- 11 plementation of an automated system to post each 12 document apportioning an appropriation, pursuant 13 to section 1513(b) of title 31, United States Code, 14 including any associated footnotes, in a format that 15 qualifies each such document as an Open Govern- 16 ment Data Asset (as defined in section 3502 of title 17 44, United States Code), not later than 2 business 18 days after the date of approval of such apportion- 19 ment, and shall place on such website each docu- 20 ment apportioning an appropriation, pursuant to 21 such section 1513(b), including any associated foot- 22 notes, already approved for the fiscal year, and shall 23 report the date of completion of such requirements 24 to the Committees on the Budget and Appropria- 25 tions of the House of Representatives and Senate. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:03 May 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6628.IH H6628 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 6628 IH ‘‘(2) EXPLANATORY STATEMENT.—Each docu- 1 ment apportioning an appropriation posted on a 2 publicly accessible website under paragraph (1) shall 3 also include a written explanation by the official ap- 4 proving each such apportionment (pursuant to sec- 5 tion 1513(b) of title 31, United States Code) of the 6 rationale for the apportionment schedule and for any 7 footnotes. 8 ‘‘(3) SPECIAL PROCESS FOR TRANSMITTING 9 CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTATION TO THE CONGRESS.— 10 The Office of Management and Budget or the appli- 11 cable department or agency shall make available 12 classified documentation relating to apportionment 13 to appropriate congressional committees on a sched- 14 ule to be determined by each such committee. 15 ‘‘(4) DEPARTMENT AND AGENCY REPORT.— 16 Each department or agency shall notify the Commit- 17 tees on the Budget and Appropriations of the House 18 of Representatives and the Senate and any other ap- 19 propriate congressional committees if— 20 ‘‘(A) an apportionment is not made in the 21 required time period provided in section 22 1513(b) of title 31, United States Code; 23 ‘‘(B) an approved apportionment received 24 by the department or agency conditions the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:03 May 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6628.IH H6628 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 6628 IH availability of an appropriation on further ac- 1 tion; or 2 ‘‘(C) an approved apportionment received 3 by the department or agency may hinder the 4 prudent obligation of such appropriation or the 5 execution of a program, project, or activity by 6 such department or agency, 7 and such notification shall contain information iden- 8 tifying the bureau, account name, appropriation 9 name, and Treasury Appropriation Fund Symbol or 10 fund account. 11 ‘‘(b) APPROVING OFFICIALS.— 12 ‘‘(1) DELEGATION OF AUTHORITY.—Not later 13 than 15 days after the date of enactment of this sec- 14 tion, any delegation of apportionment authority pur- 15 suant to section 1513(b) of title 31, United States 16 Code that is in effect as of such date shall be sub- 17 mitted for publication in the Federal Register. Any 18 delegation of such apportionment authority after the 19 date of enactment of this section shall, on the date 20 of such delegation, be submitted for publication in 21 the Federal Register. The Office of Management 22 and Budget shall publish such delegations in a for- 23 mat that qualifies such publications as an Open 24 Government Data Asset (as defined in section 3502 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:03 May 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6628.IH H6628 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 6628 IH of title 44, United States Code) on a public internet 1 website, which shall be continuously updated with 2 the position of each Federal officer or employee to 3 whom apportionment authority has been delegated. 4 ‘‘(2) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 5 5 days after any change in the position of the approv- 6 ing official with respect to such delegated apportion- 7 ment authority for any account is made, the Office 8 shall submit a report to the Congress explaining why 9 such change was made.’’. 10 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 11 of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control 12 Act of 1974 set forth in section 1(b) of such Act, as 13 amended by section 101(b), is further amended by adding 14 after the item relating to section 1018 the following: 15 ‘‘1019. Reporting.’’. SEC. 103. UPDATED AUTHORITIES FOR AND REPORTING BY 16 THE COMPTROLLER GENERAL. 17 (a) Section 1015 of the Impoundment Control Act 18 of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 686) is amended— 19 (1) in subsection (a), in the matter following 20 paragraph (2), by striking the last sentence; and 21 (2) by adding at the end the following: 22 ‘‘(c) REVIEW.— 23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General 24 shall review compliance with this part and shall sub- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:03 May 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6628.IH H6628 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 6628 IH mit to the Committees on the Budget, Appropria- 1 tions, and Oversight and Reform of the House of 2 Representatives, the Committees on the Budget, Ap- 3 propriations, and Homeland Security and Govern- 4 mental Affairs of the Senate, and any other appro- 5 priate congressional committee of the House of Rep- 6 resentatives and Senate a report, and any relevant 7 information related to the report, on any noncompli- 8 ance with this part. 9 ‘‘(2) INFORMATION, DOCUMENTATION, AND 10 VIEWS.—The President or the head of the relevant 11 department or agency of the United States shall pro- 12 vide information, documentation, and views to the 13 Comptroller General, as is determined by the Comp- 14 troller General to be necessary to determine such 15 compliance, not later than 20 days after the date on 16 which the request from the Comptroller General is 17 received, or if the Comptroller General determines 18 that a shorter or longer period is appropriate based 19 on the specific circumstances, within such shorter or 20 longer period. 21 ‘‘(3) ACCESS.—To carry out the responsibilities 22 of this part, the Comptroller General shall also have 23 access to interview the officers, employees, contrac- 24 tors, and other agents and representatives of a de- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:03 May 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6628.IH H6628 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 6628 IH partment, agency, or office of the United States at 1 any reasonable time as the Comptroller General may 2 request.’’. 3 (b) Section 1001 of the Impoundment Control Act 4 of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 681) is amended— 5 (1) in paragraph (3), by striking the ‘‘or’’ at 6 the end of the paragraph; 7 (2) in paragraph (4), by striking the period at 8 the end and inserting a semicolon; and 9 (3) by adding at the end the following: 10 ‘‘(5) affecting or limiting in any way the au- 11 thorities provided to the Comptroller General under 12 chapter 7 of title 31, United States Code.’’. 13 SEC. 104. ADVANCE CONGRESSIONAL NOTIFICATION AND 14 LITIGATION. 15 Section 1016 of the Impoundment Control Act of 16 1974 (2 U.S.C. 687) is amended to read as follows: 17 ‘‘SUITS BY COMPTROLLER GENERAL 18 ‘‘SEC. 1016. If, under this chapter, budget authority 19 is required to be made available for obligation and such 20 budget authority is not made available for obligation or 21 information, documentation, views, or access are required 22 to be produced and such information, documentation, 23 views, or access are not produced, the Comptroller General 24 is expressly empowered, through attorneys of their own 25 selection, to bring a civil action in the United States Dis- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:03 May 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6628.IH H6628 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 6628 IH trict Court for the District of Columbia to require such 1 budget authority to be made available for obligation or 2 such information, documentation, views, or access to be 3 produced, and such court is expressly empowered to enter 4 in such civil action, against any department, agency, offi- 5 cer, or employee of the United States, any decree, judg- 6 ment, or order which may be necessary or appropriate to 7 make such budget authority available for obligation or [Text truncated for display. 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