amendment, within five days after introduction. If the committee fails to report the joint resolution within the five-day period, it shall be automatically discharged from further consideration and the resolution will be placed on the appropriate calendar. A vote on final passage of a joint resolution shall be taken within five days after it was reported or discharged. No amendment to a joint resolution is in order in either House of Congress. When the joint resolution is agreed to, the Clerk of the House or the Secretary of the Senate engrosses, certifies, and transmits the joint resolution to the other House of Congress as soon as practicable. Expedited procedures for the consideration of the joint resolution are set forth for both the House and Senate. IV. Judicial Review The Act authorizes expedited judicial review of constitutional questions raised by a Member of Congress or any other adversely affected person. Legal action may be brought by a Member of Congress in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia on the grounds that any sequestration order that might be issued violates the Constitution or that the Presidential sequestration order does not comply with requirements of the Act. The measure specifically provides that such an action will be heard by a three-judge panel of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, and authorizes an immediate appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. A case challenging the constitutionality of the Act is pending before a three-judge panel of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia (see Synar v. United States, Civ. Action No. 83-3945). A speedy decision by this panel is anticipated which then could be immediately appealed to the Supreme Court. Any order of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia which is issued pursuant to this section of the legislation is reviewable by appeal directly to the United States Supreme Court. An appeal is taken by filing a notice of appeal within 10 days after an order is entered; the jurisdictional statement must be filed within 30 days after an order is entered. A stay of an order issued pursuant to an action brought under this section cannot be issued by a single Justice of the Supreme Court. The United States District Court for the District of Columbia and the United States Supreme Court are required to advance on the docket and to expedite the disposition of matters brought under the legislation. If a court of competent jurisdiction finally determines that an order issued by the President under the Act for any fiscal year does not comply with the sequestration procedures, the President must, within 20 days after such a determination is made, revise the order in accordance with the judicial determination. If the Presidential order does not comply with the sequestration procedures on the claim or defense that the constitutional powers of the President prevent such sequestration and such claim or defense is finally determined by the United States Supreme Court to be valid, then the entire order for such fiscal year is null and void. An order by a court granting declaratory or injunctive relief from a Presidential sequestration order, including relief permitting or requiring expenditure of sequestered funds, does not take effect during the pendency of the action or an appeal until the court has entered its final order disposing of the action. Alternative Procedures for the Joint Reports of the Directors—“Fallback" Procedure If any of the reporting procedures required of the Directors of the OMB, the CBO, and the GAO under the Act are invalidated by the Court, then the CBO/OMB reports are transmitted to a Temporary Joint Committee on Deficit Reduction rather than to GÃO, and GAO has no reporting role. The Joint Committee is composed of the entire membership of the Budget Committees of the House of Representatives and the Senate. The chairmen of the House and Senate Budget Committees act as cochairman of the Joint Committee. Actions taken by the Joint Committee are determined by the majority vote of the Members representing each House. The purposes of the Joint Committee are to receive the CBO/ OMB reports and to report a joint resolution setting forth the contents of such reports. A joint resolution should be reported to the House of Representatives and the Senate within five days after receipt of such a report. The provisions pertaining to consideration of a joint resolution in the event of a recession also apply to consideration of a joint resolution reported under this alternative procedure in the House and Senate, except that debate in each House shall be limited to two hours. Upon enactment, the joint resolution is deemed to be the GAO report otherwise required by the Act. Enactment of this joint resolution would trigger the sequestration process. V. Amendments to the Congressional Budget Act In addition to establishing a new procedure, "sequestration," as part of the Executive and Congressional budget processes, the Act also substantially amended the existing budget process. Most of the reforms codify congressional budget practices that have evolved since the original Congressional Budget Act was adopted in 1974. However, some are designed to enforce the maximum deficit amounts set forth in the Budget Act. As noted earlier, the Act provides that a budget resolution cannot contain a deficit level in excess of the MDA for the applicable fiscal years. This prohibition applies to the committee-reported budget resolution, any amendments thereto, or conference report thereon. In the House, three-fifths of Members present and voting are required to waive this point of order against a conference report on a budget resolution. This is the only super-majority waiver requirement created by the Act applicable in the House of Representatives. The revenues and disbursements of the Social Security program are included in the calculation of the deficit for purposes of the congressional budget resolution, the President's budget, and the excess deficit. For all other purposes Social Security is considered off-budget. A new point of order is established which prohibits any changes to the Social Security program to be included in a reconcil iation bill pursuant to a budget resolution (this prohibition also applies to a Senate-originated response to sequestration). The Budget Act is amended to establish spending controls at the subcommittee or program level. Legislation is subject to a point of order if it exceeds the appropriate committee's section 302(b) subdivision of new discretionary budget authority, new entitlement authority or credit authority. (In the Senate the point of order is based upon budget authority and outlays.) Under current law this subdivision is not binding. Other amendments to the Budget Act codify existing congressional practices. For example, the Budget Act is amended to require adoption of only one annual budget resolution (although it may be revised at any time). The content of the resolution is expanded to include advisory budgetary levels for the two succeeding fiscal years, and reconciliation instructions for three fiscal years. Section 302(a) of the Budget Act is amended to reflect how the House and Senate Budget Committees technically allocate the spending authority in the budget resolution to the committees of jurisdiction. In the House, a committee is "held harmless" from certain points of order if it is within its section 302(a) total allocation of new discretionary budget authority and new entitlement authority. The scope of the budget process is expanded to establish binding levels on credit authority, to require new credit authority to be subject to the appropriations process, and to define new types of "backdoor" spending authority. Finally, the timetable for the budget process is accelerated. In addition to the timetable below, House rules are amended to require early organization of the House. CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET PROCESS TIMETABLE On or before: First Monday after January 31. February 25. April 1. April 15. May 15.. June 10 June 15 June 30 Before July recess October 1 1 Feb. 5 for FY 1987 budget submission. President submits his budget. Congressional Budget Office submits report to Budget Committees. Committees submit views and estimates to Budget Committee. Senate Budget Committee reports concurrent resolution on the budget. Congress completes action on concurrent resolution on the budget. Annual appropriation bills may be considered in the House. Congress completes action on reconciliation legislation. Litigation On February 7, 1986, a three judge panel of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia held the automatic deficit reduction process established by the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 unconstitutional. In its opinion, the Court held that, in requiring the President to issue a sequestration order implementing the budget reduction specifications of a report issued by the Comptroller General, the Act vests executive power in the Comptroller General, an officer removable by Congress. Accordingly, the Court declared the President's sequestration order issued on February 1, 1986 to be without legal force and effect, but stayed the effect of the judgment pending appeal to the Supreme Court. The Court further ordered that its action was without prejudice to implementation of the alternate deficit reduction process specifically set forth in the Act (the "fallback procedure"). On July 7, 1986, the United States Supreme Court, in a 7 to 2 decision, upheld the lower court ruling, declaring the automatic deficit reduction process in the Act unconstitutional as violative of the constitutional principle of separation of powers. The Supreme Court stayed its judgment for a period of not to exceed 60 days to permit Congress to implement the fallback provisions in section 274(f) of the Act. Synar v. United States, 626 F. Supp. 1374 (D.D.C. 1986), aff'd sub nom. Bowsher v. Synar, 1986) (No. 85-1377). U.S. (July 7, ATTACHMENT “D” FUNCTIONAL CLASSIFICATION CODES AND PROGRAM CATEGORIES Function 050: National Defense 051: Department of Defense-Military Description of function: Funds in this function are provided to develop, maintain, and equip the military forces of the United States, and to finance defense-related activities of the Department of Energy. Major areas of funding include pay and benefits for military and civilian personnel including an accrual charge for the costs of future military retirement benefits; research, development, testing, and evaluation; procurement of weapons systems and supporting_equipment; military construction including family housing; and operations and miantenance of the defense establishment. Funding is also provided for the development and procurement of nuclear weapons and naval reactors. Major Federal programs in this function: Department of Defense-Military Atomic Energy Defense Activities Defense-Related Activities Major Federal departments and agencies in this function: Department of Defense Department of Energy (Nuclear Weapons and Naval Reactors) Function 150: International Affairs 151: Foreign Economic and Financial Assistance 153: Conduct of Foreign Affairs 154: Foreign Information and Exchange Activities Description of function: Funds in this function are provided to finance the foreign affairs establishment including embassies and other diplomatic missions abroad; sale of U.S. commodities under the Food for Peace programs; foreign aid loan and technical assistance activities in the less developed countries; security assistance to foreign governments; foreign military sales made through the Foreign Military |