Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2018
Latest action. Referred to the Committee on appropriationA law permitting federal agencies to spend money. The Constitution forbids any spending without one, Congress's 'power of the purse'.Read the full definition (opens a new tab), and in addition to the Committee on the Budget, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdictionA court's legal authority to hear a case: over the subject matter, the parties, and the territory.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) of the committee concerned.
Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2018
DIVISION B -- FURTHER EXTENSION OF CONTINUING APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2018
Further Extension of Continuing Appropriations Act, 2018
This division amends the Continuing Appropriations Act, 2018 to provide continuing FY2018 appropriations to most federal agencies through March 23, 2018 (February 8, 2018, under current law).
It prevents a partial government shutdown that would otherwise occur when the existing continuing resolution expires because the FY2018 appropriations bills have not been enacted.
The division also: (1) authorizes the Department of Energy to drawdown and sell specified crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in FY2018; and (2) makes additional funding available for the 2020 Decennial Census Program, the Southeastern Power Administration, and juror fees.
The division provides emergency funding for the Small Business Administration Disaster Loans Program Account. (Emergency spending is exempt from discretionary spending limits and other budget enforcement rules.)
DIVISION C--DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2018
This division provides appropriations to the Department of Defense for the remainder of FY2018.
DIVISION D--MISCELLANEOUS
This division amends the Food Security Act of 1985 to extend the Department of Agriculture Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) through FY2019. (EQIP provides financial and technical assistance for agricultural producers and land owners to implement certain conservation practices.)
DIVISION E--BUDGETARY EFFECTS
This division exempts the budgetary effects of division D from Pay-As-You-Go (PAYGO) rules and certain budget scorekeeping guidelines.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on February 5, 2018. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this joint resolution could become law.
The record's latest action, on February 5, 2018: Referred to the Committee on Appropriations, and in addition to the Committee on the Budget, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
What is a joint resolution, exactly?
A joint resolution travels the same road as a bill: both chambers pass it and the President signs it, and it then has the same force as any other law. The label is largely a matter of custom, often used for narrow or time-limited measures.
One exception matters. A joint resolution proposing an amendment to the Constitution is not sent to the President at all. It goes to the states, and three quarters of them have to ratify it.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 115th Congress (2017-18), 442 of the 11,421 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.9 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
RODNEY FRELINGHUYSEN (R-NJ) introduced it on February 5, 2018. No cosponsors are recorded.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on February 5, 2018, 3139 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 3139 days ago, on February 5, 2018.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 115th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2019 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers