The Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act, 2015 () is an

appropriations bill An appropriation, also known as supply bill or spending bill, is a proposed law that authorizes the expenditure of government funds. It is a bill that sets money aside for specific spending. In some democracies, approval of the legislature is ne ...

for fiscal year 2015 that would provide funding for the

United States Department of the Treasury The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States, where it serves as an executive department. The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and t ...

, as we all as the

United States federal courts The federal judiciary of the United States is one of the three branches of the federal government of the United States organized under the Constitution of the United States, United States Constitution and Law of the United States, laws of the fed ...

, the

Executive Office of the President of the United States The Executive Office of the President (EOP) comprises the offices and agencies that support the work of the president at the center of the executive branch of the United States federal government. The EOP consists of several offices and agenc ...

, and

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

The bill was introduced into the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

during the

113th United States Congress The 113th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, from January 3, 2013, to January 3, 2015, during the fifth and sixth years of Presidency of Barack Obama, Barack Obama's presiden ...

Background

An appropriations bill is a bill that appropriates (gives to, sets aside for) money to specific federal government departments, agencies, and programs. The money provides funding for operations, personnel, equipment, and activities. Regular appropriations bills are passed annually, with the funding they provide covering one fiscal year. The ''fiscal year'' is the accounting period of the federal government, which runs from October 1 to September 30 of the following year. The Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act, 2015 is an example of a regular appropriations bill. Appropriations bills are one part of a larger United States budget and spending process. They are preceded in that process by the president's budget proposal, congressional budget resolutions, and the 302(b) allocation. The

U.S. Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven articles, it delineates the natio ...

(

Article I Article One may refer to: Legal codes * Article One of the United States Constitution, pertaining to the powers of the United States Congress * Article One of the Constitution of India, pertaining to the federal nature of the republic Other us ...

, section 9, clause 7) states that "No money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law..." This is what gives Congress the power to make these appropriations. The President, however, still has the power to veto appropriations bills. The Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act, 2015 falls under the jurisdiction of the

United States House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government U.S. House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Service and General Government is a subcommittee of the U.S. House Committee on Appropriations. It was created in 2007 to align the operations of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees. It ...

. The bill covers appropriations for the

, as we all as the

, the

, and

The House and Senate currently consider appropriations bills simultaneously, although originally the House went first. The House Committee on Appropriations usually reports the appropriations bills in May and June and the Senate in June. Any differences between appropriations bills passed by the House and the Senate are resolved in the fall. In 2013, Congress was unable to pass all twelve appropriations bills (for fiscal year 2014) before October 1, 2013 when the new fiscal year. This led to the

United States federal government shutdown of 2013 From October 1 to October 17, 2013, the United States federal government entered a shutdown and curtailed most routine operations because neither legislation appropriating funds for fiscal year 2014 nor a continuing resolution for the interim ...

. The shutdown lasted for 16 days. Finally, late in the evening of October 16, 2013, Congress passed the

Continuing Appropriations Act, 2014 The Continuing Appropriations Act, 2014 (; ) is a law used to resolve both the United States federal government shutdown of 2013 and the United States debt-ceiling crisis of 2013. After the Republican-led House of Representatives could not agr ...

, and the President signed it shortly after midnight on October 17, ending the government shutdown and suspending the

debt limit A debt limit or debt ceiling is a legislative mechanism restricting the total amount that a country can borrow or how much debt it can be permitted to take on. Several countries have debt limitation restrictions. Description A debt limit is a l ...

until February 7, 2014. In reaction to this situation, House Committee on Appropriations Chairman

Hal Rogers Harold Dallas Rogers (born December 31, 1937) is an American lawyer and politician serving his 21st term as the U.S. representative for , having served since 1981. He is a member of the Republican Party. Upon Don Young's death in 2022, Rogers b ...

has stated that his goal is to pass all twelve regular appropriations bills for 2015 before Congress has a recess in August because he wants to avoid a similar situation.

Provisions of the bill

''This summary is based largely on the summary provided by the

Congressional Research Service The Congressional Research Service (CRS) is a public policy research institute of the United States Congress. Operating within the Library of Congress, it works primarily and directly for members of Congress and their committees and staff on a c ...

, a

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...

source.'' The Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act, 2015 has multiple parts. The ''Department of the Treasury Appropriations Act, 2015'' would make appropriations for FY2015 for the

. The ''Executive Office of the President Appropriations Act, 2015'' would make appropriations for FY2015 for the

Executive Office of the President The Executive Office of the President (EOP) comprises the offices and agencies that support the work of the president at the center of the executive branch of the United States federal government. The EOP consists of several offices and agenci ...

. The ''Judiciary Appropriations Act, 2015'' would make appropriations for FY2015 for the

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

and other federal courts and related offices. The ''District of Columbia Appropriations Act, 2015'' would make appropriations for FY2015 for the

District of Columbia ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

. The bill would make appropriations for FY2015 for: (1) the

Administrative Conference of the United States The Administrative Conference of the United States (ACUS) is an independent agency of the United States government that was established in 1964 by the Administrative Conference Act. The conference's purpose is to "promote improvements in the effi ...

, (2) the

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is an agency of the United States government responsible for consumer protection in the financial sector. CFPB's jurisdiction includes banks, credit unions, securities firms, payday lenders, mortg ...

(CFPB), (3) the

Consumer Product Safety Commission The United States Consumer Product Safety Commission (USCPSC, CPSC, or commission) is an independent agency of the United States government. The CPSC seeks to promote the safety of consumer products by addressing “unreasonable risks” of inj ...

(CPSC), (4) the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction ...

(FCC), (5) the

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is one of two agencies that supply deposit insurance to depositors in American depository institutions, the other being the National Credit Union Administration, which regulates and insures cred ...

(FDIC), (6) the

Federal Election Commission The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is an independent regulatory agency of the United States whose purpose is to enforce campaign finance law in United States federal elections. Created in 1974 through amendments to the Federal Election Cam ...

(FEC), (7) the

Federal Labor Relations Authority The Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) is an independent agency of the United States government that governs labor relations between the federal government and its employees. Created by the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978, it is a quasi- ...

(FLRA), (8) the

Federal Trade Commission The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil (non-criminal) antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection. The FTC shares jurisdiction ov ...

(FTC), (9) the

General Services Administration The General Services Administration (GSA) is an independent agency of the United States government established in 1949 to help manage and support the basic functioning of federal agencies. GSA supplies products and communications for U.S. gover ...

(GSA), (10) the

Merit Systems Protection Board The Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) is an independent quasi-judicial agency established in 1979 to protect federal merit systems against partisan political and other prohibited personnel practices and to ensure adequate protection for federa ...

, (11) the

National Archives and Records Administration The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an " independent federal agency of the United States government within the executive branch", charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It i ...

(NARA), (12) the

National Credit Union Administration The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) is a government-backed insurer of credit unions in the United States, one of two agencies that provide deposit insurance to depositors in U.S. depository institutions, the other being the Federa ...

(NCUA), (13) the

Office of Government Ethics The United States Office of Government Ethics (OGE) is an independent agency within the executive branch of the U.S. Federal Government which is responsible for directing executive branch policies relating to the prevention of conflicts of intere ...

, (14) the

Office of Personnel Management An office is a space where an organization's employees perform administrative work in order to support and realize objects and goals of the organization. The word "office" may also denote a position within an organization with specific duti ...

(OPM), (15) the

Office of Special Counsel The United States Office of Special Counsel (OSC) is a permanent independent federal investigative and prosecutorial agency whose basic legislative authority comes from four federal statutes: the Civil Service Reform Act, the Whistleblower Prot ...

, (16) the

Postal Regulatory Commission The United States Postal Regulatory Commission (or PRC), formerly called the Postal Rate Commission, is an independent regulatory agency created by the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970. Like the Postal Service, it was defined in law as an indepe ...

, (17) the

Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB) is an independent agency within the executive branch of the United States government, established by Congress in 2004 to advise the President and other senior executive branch officials to en ...

, (18) the

Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board The Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board was an agency of the United States federal government, which managed the Recovery.gov website and oversaw spending under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Recovery.gov was the U ...

, (19) the

Securities and Exchange Commission The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The primary purpose of the SEC is to enforce the law against market ...

(SEC), (20) the

Selective Service System The Selective Service System (SSS) is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States government that maintains information on U.S. Citizenship of the Unite ...

, (21) the

Small Business Administration The United States Small Business Administration (SBA) is an independent agency of the United States government that provides support to entrepreneurs and small businesses. The mission of the Small Business Administration is "to maintain and stren ...

(SBA), (22) the

United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the U ...

(USPS), and (23) the

United States Tax Court The United States Tax Court (in case citations, T.C.) is a federal trial court of record established by Congress under Article I of the U.S. Constitution, section 8 of which provides (in part) that the Congress has the power to "constitute Trib ...

. The bill would specify certain uses and limits or prohibitions against the use of funds appropriated by this Act.

Amendments

The House accepted in a voice vote an amendment offered by Rep.

Paul Gosar Paul Anthony Gosar ( ; born November 27, 1958) is an American Far-right politics, far-rightMultiple sources: * * * politician and former dentist who has been the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for since 2013. A Re ...

(R-AZ) to reduce funding for the

Internal Revenue Service The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting U.S. federal taxes and administering the Internal Revenue Code, the main body of the federal statutory ta ...

by $353 million.

Procedural history

The Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act, 2015 was introduced into the

on July 2, 2014 by Rep.

Ander Crenshaw Alexander Mann "Ander" Crenshaw (born September 1, 1944) is an American banker, attorney, and politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2001 to 2017. He is a member of the Republican Party. Crenshaw retired from Congress when ...

(R-FL). It was reported as an original measure by the

United States House Committee on Appropriations The United States House Committee on Appropriations is a committee of the United States House of Representatives that is responsible for passing appropriation bills along with its Senate counterpart. The bills passed by the Appropriations Commi ...

. The House began debating the bill on July 14, 2014, when it was brought to the House floor under an open rule, meaning that unlimited amendments were allowed. It passed the House 228-195 on July 17.http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2014/roll427.xml

Debate and discussion

Rep. Gosar, whose amendment cut some of the IRS' funding, said that it was "a modest reduction" and that "this agency has shown contempt for the American taxpayer." Rep.

José E. Serrano José Enrique Serrano (born October 24, 1943) is an American politician who was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1990 until his retirement in 2021. Serrano, a Democrat from New York, represented a district that is one of the ...

(D-NY) objected, arguing that reducing the IRS' funding would be "counterproductive and result in weakened tax enforcement." '' The Hill'' described this bill as "one of the most contentious of the annual 12 appropriations bills."

References

External links

Library of Congress - Thomas H.R. 5016beta.congress.gov H.R. 5016GovTrack.us H.R. 5016OpenCongress.org H.R. 5016
{{DEFAULTSORT:Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act, 2015 (H.R. 5016 113th Congress) Proposed legislation of the 113th United States Congress United States federal appropriations in the 113th Congress