§015i. (CB) Impoundment Resolution

Cyclopedia of Congressional Budget Law

Impoundment Resolution


A rescission resolution specifically defined in the Impoundment Control Act of 1974 (title X of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974) as a measure  which has the singular purpose of cancelling (“rescinding”) previously appropriated budget authority.

Impoundment Control Act of 1974

Definition of Impoundment Resolution

An impoundment resolution  is defined by section 1011 of the Impoundment Control Act of 1974 as  follows:

(4) “impoundment resolution” means a resolution of the House of Representatives or the Senate which only expresses its disapproval of a proposed deferral of budget authority set forth in a special message transmitted by the President under section 1013;

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GAO Glossary of Terms and Definition (September 2005)

Impoundment

Any action or inaction by an officer or employee of the federal government that precludes obligation or expenditure of budget authority. There are two types of impoundments: deferrals and proposed rescissions. Not all delays in obligating funds are deferrals. Sometimes obligation delays are due to legitimate programmatic reasons or the result of outside forces not under the agency’s control; for example, an agency administering a grant program receives no grant applications so no grants can be made. (See also Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974; Deferral of Budget Authority; Rescission.)

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Impoundment: A generic term referring to any action or inaction by an officer or employee of the U.S. Government that precludes the obligation or expenditure of budget authority in the manner intended by Congress. (See Deferral of budget Authority; Rescission of Budget Authority.)

[The Congressional Budget Process: An Explanation, Appendix J (Glossary), Committee on the Budget of the U.S. Senate, S. Prt. 105-67 (Revised December 1998).]

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