POLSC232: American Government

Rescissions are provisions of law that cancel previously enacted budget authority. For example, if Congress provided $50 million to an agency, it could enact subsequent legislation cancelling some or all of the budget authority prior to its obligation. Rescissions are an expression of changed or differing priorities. They may also be used to offset increases in budget authority for other activities.

The President may recommend rescissions to Congress, but they must be enacted into law in order to take effect. Under Title X of the CBA, if Congress does not enact a bill approving the President's rescissions within 45 days of continuous session of Congress, the budget authority must be made available for obligation.

In response to the President's recommendation, Congress may decide not to approve the amount specified by the President, approve the total amount, or approve a different amount. For example, in 2005, the President requested a rescission of $106 million from the Department of Defense (DOD), Operations and Maintenance, Defense-Wide account and $48.6 million from DOD, Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation, Army account. Congress provided a rescission of $80 million from the first account in the DOD, Emergency Supplemental Appropriations to Address Hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico, and Pandemic Influenza Act, 2006, but it did not provide a rescission from the second account.

Congress may also initiate rescissions. For example, in the above act, Congress also included a rescission of $10 million from the Department of State, Diplomatic and Consular Programs account.

As budget authority providing the funding must be enacted into law, so too a rescission cancelling the budget authority must be enacted into law. Rescissions can be included either in separate rescission measures or any of the three types of appropriations measures.