109th Congress Appropriations Committee

The House and Senate Appropriations Committees are responsible for making decisions about funding levels for individual federal programs. Appropriators work within budget caps approved through a budget resolution but retain sole discretion for program allocations. Spending levels for community development programs will be set through the appropriations process.

The Appropriations Committees adopt a series of individual spending bills that funding selected government departments and agencies. Each bill is approved by the relevant subcommittee and full committee before being sent to the full chamber for approval. These bills are then subject to reconciliation by a House-Senate conference committee. Appropriations bills must be signed into law before the start of the new fiscal year on October 1. In recent years, the process has bogged down requiring continuing resolutions to keep government operations up and running past the start of the fiscal year. In these instances, Congress has opted to incorporate individual spending bills into one large package known as an omnibus.

In the 109th Congress, the House of Representatives has opted to restructure the Appropriations Committee reducing from 13 to 10 subcommittees. As of early February, the Senate was still considering whether to adopt similar changes. In the House, HUD programs have been shifted to a new Transportation, Treasury, and HUD subcommittee. Jurisdiction over Commerce programs in the House lies with the Science, Commerce, State and Justice subcommittee. Under the current structure in the Senate, HUD spending is under the purview of the HUD, VA, and Independent Agencies subcommittee and Commerce programs are the responsibility of the Commerce, State, and Justice subcommittee.

Senate Appropriations Committee (HUD Subcommittee in italics)

House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Treasury & HUD