The Executive Budget and Appropriations by Congress

Report Outline
Budget and Appropriations
Rise of the Modern Budget System
Appropriation Bills in Congress

Budget and Appropriations

Republican Gains and the Power of the Purse

The first month of the 1943 session of Congress was marked by the emergence of a persistent demand, among members of both parties in both houses, for a stricter control of government spending, and for renewed employment of the “power of the purse” as a cheek upon government policies.

The new assertiveness of the Legislative Branch, in this as in other fields, is generally attributed to the restoration, by the 1942 congressional elections, of a closer balance of party strength in Congress than has existed at any time since President Roosevelt's first inauguration in 1933. The President's party holds an overall majority of 18 in the Senate, but a majority of only 9 in the House—and the majorities in each chamber contain substantial blocs of occasional or potential dissenters from administration policies.

The narrow margin of Democratic control in the lower chamber is of particular importance in connection with money bills, for the Constitution provides, in Article I, Section 7, that: “All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives.” Appropriation bills have been regarded by the House, since the first meeting of the First Congress under the Constitution of 1789, as coming within the term “bills for raising revenue.” The lower chamber has enforced its prerogative of originating such measures by consistently refusing to approve any bill granting an appropriation which has been first passed in the Senate.