See also
How CBO Prepares Cost Estimates, www.cbo.gov/publication/53519; and Glossary, www.cbo.gov/publication/42904.
Congressional Budget Office
Report on the Status of Discretionary Appropriations
May 5, 2020
Fiscal Year 2020, U.S. Senate
As of April 24, 2020
This report summarizes the Congressional Budget Office’s cost estimates of enacted
discretionary appropriations for fiscal year 2020.
Table 1 is a summary for fiscal year 2020; it identifies the portion of 2020 appropriations that
are subject to statutory limits on new discretionary budget authority under the Budget Control
Act of 2011 (Public Law 112-25, as modified). Table 2 is a summary of advance appropriations
for future fiscal years. Table 3 summarizes CBO’s estimates of changes in direct spending that
would result from provisions contained in appropriation legislation.
Enacted Appropriation Legislation
Agriculture (division B of P.L. 116-94)
Commerce, Justice, and Science (division B of P.L. 116-93)
Defense (division A of P.L. 116-93)
Energy and Water (division C of P.L. 116-94)
Financial Services and General Government (division C of P.L. 116-93)
Homeland Security (division D of P.L. 116-93)
Interior and Environment (division D of P.L. 116-94)
Labor, Health and Human Services, Education (division A of P.L. 116-94)
Legislative Branch (division E of P.L. 116-94)
Military Construction, Veterans’ Affairs (division F of P.L. 116-94)
State, Foreign Operations (division G of P.L. 116-94)
Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (division H of P.L. 116-94)
Continuing Appropriations Act, 2020 (division A of P.L. 116-59)
Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2020 (division A of P.L. 116-69)
United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement Implementation Act (title IX of P.L. 116-113)
*
Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2020 (division A of
P.L. 116-123)
*
Second Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2020 (division A of
P.L. 116-127)
*
Emergency Appropriations for Coronavirus Health Response and Agency Operations Appropriations
Act, 2020 (division B of P.L. 116-136)
*
Additional Emergency Appropriations for Coronavirus Response (division B of P.L. 116-139)
*
*
These appropriation measures were enacted as part of broader legislation that contains provisions to require some portions
of those laws to be treated as appropriation legislation and others to be treated as authorizing legislation. In accordance
with those requirements and at the direction of the House and Senate Committees on the Budget, this report reflects
provisions that are treated as appropriation legislation.
##
CBO Report on the Status of Discretionary Appropriations, Fiscal Year 2020, U.S. Senate (as of April 24, 2020)
Table 1. Current Status of Discretionary Appropriations (Including Adjustments) for Fiscal Year 2020
Millions of Dollars
Total,
Total,
Security Nonsecurity
Constrained
by Caps
Emergency
b
OCO/GWOT
c
Emergency
b
OCO/GWOT
Disaster
Program
Integrity
Wildfire
Suppression
2020 Census
Adjustments to
Caps
Current
Status
d
BA: 0 23,493 23,493 0 0 26,224 0 0 0 0 0 26,224 49,717
O: 0 22,803 22,803 0 0 18,484 0 0 0 0 0 18,484 41,287
BA: 5,695 64,980 70,675 12 0 3,173 0 0 0 0 2,500 5,685 76,360
O: 5,633 68,500 74,133 10 0 938 0 0 0 0 1,800 2,748 76,881
BA: 622,522 143 622,665 12,357 70,665 0 0 0 0 0 0 83,022 705,687
O: 622,447 144 622,591 5,546 40,318 0 0 0 0 0 0 45,864 668,455
BA: 24,250 24,093 48,343 0 0 221 0 0 0 0 0 221 48,564
O: 23,253 22,352 45,605 0 0 1,070 0 0 0 0 0 1,070 46,675
BA: 35 23,793 23,828 0 0 63,955 0 151 0 0 0 64,106 87,934
O: 32 23,803 23,835 0 0 63,213 0 116 0 0 0 63,329 87,164
BA: 2,383 48,085 50,468 9 190 45,864 0 17,352 0 0 0 63,415 113,883
O: 2,259 56,570 58,829 8 146 19,354 0 868 0 0 0 20,376 79,205
BA: 0 35,989 35,989 0 0 2,413 0 0 0 2,250 0 4,663 40,652
O: 0 34,839 34,839 0 0 1,379 0 0 0 2,250 0 3,629 38,468
BA: 0 183,042 183,042 0 0 280,000 0 0 1,842 0 0 281,842 464,884
O: 0 186,925 186,925 0 0 84,512 0 0 1,481 0 0 85,993 272,918
BA: 0 5,049 5,049 0 0 93 0 0 0 0 0 93 5,142
O: 0 4,996 4,996 0 0 74 0 0 0 0 0 74 5,070
BA: 11,315 92,171 103,486 6,229 645 19,632 0 0 0 0 0 26,506 129,992
O: 9,243 88,911 98,154 469 1 6,240 0 0 0 0 0 6,710 104,864
BA: 0 46,685 46,685 0 0 2,717 8,000 0 0 0 0 10,717 57,402
O: 0 48,079 48,079 0 0 738 2,326 0 0 0 0 3,064 51,143
BA: 300 73,977 74,277 0 0 48,508 0 0 0 0 0 48,508 122,785
O: 300 132,741 133,041 0 0 20,974 0 0 0 0 0 20,974 154,015
________
________
________
________
________
________
________
________
________
________
________
________
________
Total
BA:
666,500
621,500
1,288,000
18,607
71,500
492,800
8,000
17,503
1,842
2,250
2,500
615,002
1,903,002
O:
663,167
690,663
1,353,830
6,033
40,465
216,976
2,326
984
1,481
2,250
1,800
272,315
1,626,145
Memorandum:
Limits on Budget Authority
i
666,500
621,500
1,288,000
n.a.
n.a.
n.a.
n.a.
17,503
1,842
2,250
2,500
Source: Congressional Budget Office.
See next page for notes
May 5, 2020
Transportation, HUD
h
BA = budget authority; HHS = Department of Health and Human Services; HUD = Department of Housing and Urban Development; O = outlays; OCO/GWOT = overseas contingency operations/global war on terrorism; VA = Department of
Veterans Affairs; n.a. = not applicable.
Homeland Security
g
Interior and Environment
Labor, HHS, Education
d
Legislative Branch
Military Construction, VA
State, Foreign Operations
Financial Services
f
In fiscal year 2020, most discretionary budget authority is subject to limits (or caps) established by the Budget Control Act of 2011 (Public Law 112-25), as modified. Separate caps exist for funding for defense (statutorily, revised security ),
under budget function 050, and for nondefense (revised nonsecurity ), which encompasses all other budget functions. The Budget Control Act also provides for certain adjustments to those caps. This table compiles CBO’s estimates of funding
constrained by the 2020 caps on defense and nondefense funding and the amounts that would result in adjustments to those caps.
Constrained by Caps Adjustment to Caps
a
Security Nonsecurity
Subcommittee
Agriculture
d
Commerce, Justice, Science
e
Defense
c
Energy and Water
CBO Report on the Status of Discretionary Appropriations, Fiscal Year 2020, U.S. Senate (as of April 24, 2020)
Table 1. Current Status of Discretionary Appropriations (Including Adjustments) for Fiscal Year 2020
Continued
a. e.
f.
b. g.
h.
c.
d.
i.
May 5, 2020
Section 219 of division B of P.L. 116-93 (Commerce, Justice, Science) changes the applicability of 28 U.S.C.
1930(a)(6)(b) for fiscal year 2020 and 2021 by increasing the threshold for the balance in the United States
Trustee System Fund from $200 million to $300 million for use in fee calculations. CBO estimates that this
provision will increase discretionary offsetting collections for the United States Trustee Program by $175 million
over the 2020-2029 period. This provision does not affect CBO’s estimate of collections in fiscal year 2020.
Section 602(b) of division C of P.L. 116-93 (Financial Services) provides advance appropriations in fiscal year
2021 and each fiscal year thereafter for the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board. Those appropriations
will equal the amount of civil penalties that the agency collects each year. Over the 2021-2029 period, CBO
estimates, those appropriations will total $1 million annually.
The Continuing Appropriations Act, 2020 (division A of P.L. 116-59, as amended), extended several immigration
programs through December 20, 2019. The amounts in this table include CBO’s estimates of direct spending
attributable to such extensions. Specifically, CBO estimates that the partial-year extension will increase on-budget
direct spending by $2 million in fiscal year 2020, by $7 million over the 2020-2024 period, and by $12 million
over the 2020-2029 period. In addition, CBO estimates that those extensions will decrease off-budget direct
spending by $2 million over the 2020-2029 period. CBO also estimates that extending those authorities through
December 20, 2019, will have an insignificant effect on revenues over the 2020-2029 period.
Section 237 of division H of P.L. 116-94 (Transportation, HUD) rescinds an estimated $7 million in balances
from HUD’s Tenant-Based and Project-Based Rental Assistance accounts. Those balances were designated by the
Congress as an emergency requirement before the current statutory limits on discretionary spending were put in
place. In consultation with the House and Senate Budget Committees and the Office of Management and Budget,
CBO has determined that rescinding those amounts will not result in an adjustment to the statutory limits on
discretionary spending or reduce the amount of appropriations that are subject to the limit. As a result, CBO has
excluded the estimated budgetary savings from this report.
Some adjustments to the caps on discretionary budget authority that result from funding designated for specific
activities are themselves limited. The Budget Control Act specifies, on an account-by-account basis, limits on
program integrity efforts, wildfire suppression, and the 2020 census; it also specifies the calculation that governs
the limit for disaster relief. (The Office of Management and Budget makes that calculation and determines that
limit.) For more information on the statutory limits, see Office of Management and Budget, OMB Sequestration
Update Report to the President and Congress for Fiscal Year 2020 (August 2019), https://go.usa.gov/xpJ99.
These amounts are designated in accordance with section 251 of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control
Act of 1985; the caps for fiscal year 2020 will be adjusted to accommodate these amounts. OCO consists primarily of
funding for military activities in Afghanistan and similar missions. Emergency funding consists of appropriations
formally designated as required under section 251(b)(2)(A)(i) of the Deficit Control Act. Disaster relief funding is for
activities carried out under section 102(2) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, as
amended. Such activities may result from a natural disaster that causes damage of enough severity to warrant federal
assistance. Program integrity initiatives seek to identify and reduce overpayments in certain benefit programs.
Appropriations for activities related to wildfire suppression and the 2020 census also result in adjustments to the 2020
limits if they are designated in accordance with section 251 of the Deficit Control Act.
Includes the effects of appropriations designated as emergency requirements that were provided after CBO prepared its
May 2019 baseline (see Congressional Budget Office, Updated Budget Projections: 2019 to 2029, May 2019,
www.cbo.gov/publication/55151). Specifically, the Additional Supplemental Appropriations Act for Disaster Relief,
2019 (P.L. 116-20, enacted on June 6, 2019), and the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for Humanitarian
Assistance and Security at the Southern Border Act, 2019 (P.L. 116-26, enacted on July 1, 2019), provided
supplemental funding for 2019 and designated those amounts as emergency requirements in accordance with
section 251 of the Budget Control Act. (Outlays stemming from emergency-designated appropriations provided before
CBO published its May 2019 baseline are included among estimates of spending that is constrained by statutory caps.)
Amounts in this column also include emergency-desginated appropriations provided for fiscal year 2020 in various
pieces of legislation: P.L. 116-93, P.L. 116-94, P.L. 116-113, P.L. 116-123, P.L. 116-127, P.L. 116-136, and P.L. 116-
139.
Section 124 of the Continuing Appropriations Act, 2020 (division A of P.L. 116-59), appropriated funding for the
Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (within the jurisdiction of the Subcommittee on Defense) and designated those
amounts as funding for OCO. That provision took effect upon enactment on September 27, 2019. The amounts
displayed in this table include $128 million in outlays stemming from that appropriation.
In keeping with the 21st Century Cures Act (P.L. 114-255), funding for certain HHS activities is excluded from
estimates for the purposes of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 and the Deficit Control Act. As a result, this
estimate excludes $567 million in budget authority and $798 million in outlays. Of those amounts, $75 million in
budget authority and $64 million in outlays is under the jurisdiction of the Agriculture Subcommittee, and $492
million in budget authority and $734 million in outlays is under the jurisdiction of the Labor, HHS, Education
Subcommittee.
CBO Report on the Status of Discretionary Appropriations, Fiscal Year 2020, U.S. Senate (as of April 24, 2020)
May 5, 2020
Table 2. Discretionary Advance Appropriations Provided in Appropriation Legislation for Fiscal Year 2020
Millions of Dollars
Fiscal Year 2021 Fiscal Year 2022
BA: 1 1
Labor, HHS, Education BA: 24,369 465
BA: 87,637 0
BA: 4,400 0
¯¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
Total BA: 116,407 466
Source: Congressional Budget Office.
Section 602(b) of division C of P.L. 116-93 (Financial Services) provides advance appropriations in fiscal year 2021 and each fiscal thereafter for
the Public Company Accouting Oversight Board. Those appropriations will equal the amount of civil penalties that the agency collects each year.
Over the 2021-2029 period, CBO estimates, those appropriations will total $1 million annually.
BA = Budget Authority; HHS = Department of Health and Human Services;
HUD = Department of Housing and Urban Development; VA = Department of
Veterans Affairs.
This table displays advance appropriations—budget authority provided in appropriation legislation that becomes available
for obligation one or more fiscal years after the fiscal year for which the legislation is considered. The amounts shown here
will be incorporated into the current status of discretionary appropriations for future years when the Congress considers
appropriation legislation for those respective years. In the House and Senate, certain points of order may apply to some
advance appropriations; the Chairmen of the House and Senate Committees on the Budget make such determinations.
Financial Services
Military Construction, VA
Subcommittee
Transportation, HUD
CBO Report on the Status of Discretionary Appropriations, Fiscal Year 2020, U.S. Senate (as of April 24, 2020)
Table 3. Estimated Budgetary Effects of Changes in Mandatory Programs
Millions of Dollars 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029
2020-2024
2020-2029
BA: 14,418 16 18 21 20 20 19 18 19 19 14,493 14,588
O: 10,406 4,316 82 118 64 32 19 18 19 19 14,986 15,093
BA: -6,464 5,737 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -727 -727
O: -829 -743 -752 219 574 486 324 0 0 0 -1,531 -721
BA: -1 4 21 -53 -3 -10 27 31 40 4 -32 60
O: -1 3 37 -38 -7 -6 0 5 20 26 -6 39
BA: 9,956 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9,956 9,956
O: 9,998 162 94 -133 -136 -29 0 0 0 0 9,985 9,956
BA: 2 6 5 5 5 5 6 6 5 5 23 50
O: 2 6 5 5 5 5 6 6 5 5 23 50
BA: 486 -8 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 481 486
O: 486 -8 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 481 486
BA: -9,361 6,143 27 49 49 49 49 49 49 49 -3,093 -2,848
O: 52 -33 4 43 49 49 49 49 49 49 115 360
BA: -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -3 -3 -3 -3 -3 -10 -25
O: -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -3 -3 -3 -3 -3 -10 -25
BA: -615 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -615 -615
O: -615 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -615 -615
BA: 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 5
O: 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 5
Total BA: 8,424 11,896 70 21 70 62 99 102 111 75 20,481 20,930
O: 19,502 3,701 -531 213 548 535 396 76 91 97 23,433 24,628
Source: Congressional Budget Office.
a. c.
d.
b.
Agriculture
c
Commerce, Justice, Science
Energy and Water
Financial Services
c
Homeland Security
d
May 5, 2020
BA = Budget Authority; HHS = Department of Health and Human Services; HUD = Department of Housing and Urban
Development; O = Outlays; VA = Department of Veterans Affairs.
Provisions of S. Con. Res. 70, the Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for Fiscal Year
2009 (110th Congress), and H. Con. Res. 71, the Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for
Fiscal Year 2018 (115th Congress), impose limitations on CHIMPs with certain budgetary
effects and specify exceptions to those limitations.
When appropriation acts include changes that affect mandatory funding in the current year or budget year, those spending effects (but not the revenue effects) are included in estimates of discretionary funding
provided by those acts for the purpose of judging the acts' compliance with statutory limits on budget authority.
a
Such provisions are referred to as changes to mandatory programs (CHIMPs). This table
summarizes CBO’s estimates of the budgetary effects of such provisions over the next 10 years.
b
Subcommittee INCREASES OR DECREASES (-) IN DIRECT SPENDING
Interior and Environment
Legislative Branch
Transportation, HUD
Includes the effects of emergency-designated CHIMPs contained in four laws: P.L. 116-20 (which
was enacted on June 6, 2019, after CBO prepared its May 2019 baseline), P.L. 116-127, P.L. 116-
136, and P.L. 116-139.
The Continuing Appropriations Act, 2020 (division A of P.L. 116-59, as amended) extended
several immigration programs through December 20, 2019. The amounts in this table include
CBO’s estimates of direct spending attributable to such extensions. Specifically, CBO estimates
that the partial-year extension will increase on-budget direct spending by $2 million in fiscal year
2020, by $7 million over the 2020-2024 period, and by $12 million over the 2020-2029 period. In
addition, CBO estimates that those extensions will decrease off-budget direct spending by $2
million over the 2020-2029 period. CBO also estimates that extending those authorities through
December 20, 2019, will have an insignificant effect on revenues over the 2020-2029 period.
Labor, HHS, Education
Military Construction, VA
The Budget Enforcement Act of 1990 and scorekeeping guideline 3 require that
substantive changes to or restrictions on entitlements or other mandatory spending
specified in appropriations bills be treated as changes in discretionary spending in
estimates of the costs of those bills. In CBO’s baselines, those changes are included in
estimates of mandatory spending and revenues. The Office of Management and Budget is
responsible for determining whether statutory mechanisms for budget enforcement apply
to legislative changes to mandatory programs (and revenues). For more information on
statutory enforcement see Office of Management and Budget, Paygo (accessed April 28,
2020), https://go.usa.gov/xVpZx.