A bill to require the President to notify the Congress whenever he impounds funds, or authorizes the impounding of funds, and to provide a procedure under which the House of Representatives and the Senate may disapprove the President's action and require him to cease such impounding.
Latest action. Referred to House Committee on Rules.
Requires the President, when he impounds funds appropriated or otherwise obligated for a specific purpose or project, within ten days thereafter, to transmit to the Senate and the House of Representatives a special message specifying: (1) the amount of funds impounded; (2) the specific projects or governmental functions affected thereby; and (3) the reasons for the impounding of such funds. Requires the President to cease the impounding of funds set forth in each special message within sixty calendar days of continuous session after the message is received by the Congress unless the specific impoundment shall have been disapproved by the Congress by passage of a concurrent resolution in accordance with the procedure under this Act. Directs any resolution introduced with respect to a special message to be referred to the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives or the Senate. Directs the Committee to make a motion to proceed to consideration of the resolution, and forbids amendments to this motion. Limits debate on the resolution to not more than two hours, divided equally between those in favor and and those opposed to the resolution. Forbids amendment to the resolution, debate on motions to postpone and motions to proceed to consideration of other business, and all appeals from the decisions of the Chair relating to the application of the rules of the Senate or House of Representatives to the procedure relating to any resolution.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on March 6, 1973. 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 bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on March 6, 1973: Referred to House Committee on Rules.
- 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.
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 93rd Congress (1973-74), 651 of the 23,396 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 2.8 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?
GEORGE MAHON (D-TX) introduced it on March 6, 1973. 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 March 6, 1973, 19546 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 19546 days ago, on March 6, 1973.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 93rd Congress has not finished by January 3, 1975 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