CBA (Contents)
Section 201
Congressional Budget Act of 1974
TITLE II – CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE
Establishment of Office
Sec. 201. (a) In General.—
(1) There is established an office of the Congress to be known as the Congressional Budget Office (hereinafter in this title referred to as the “Office”). The Office shall be headed by a Director; and there shall be a Deputy Director who shall perform such duties as may be assigned to him by the Director and, during the absence or incapacity of the Director or during a vacancy in that office, shall act as Director.
(2) The Director shall be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate after considering recommendations received from the Committees on the Budget of the House and the Senate, without regard to political affiliation and solely on the basis of his fitness to perform his duties.[1] The Deputy Director shall be appointed by the Director.
(3) The term of office of the Director shall be 4 years and shall expire on January 3 of the year preceding each Presidential election. Any individual appointed as Director to fill a vacancy prior to the expiration of a term shall serve only for the unexpired portion of that term. An individual serving as Director at the expiration of a term may continue to serve until his successor is appointed. Any Deputy Director shall serve until the expiration of the term of office of the Director who appointed him (and until his successor is appointed), unless sooner removed by the Director.
(4) The Director may be removed by either House by resolution.
(5)(A) The Director shall receive compensation at an annual rate of pay that is equal to the lower of—
(i) the highest annual rate of compensation of any officer of the Senate; or
(ii) the highest annual rate of compensation of any officer of the House of Representatives.
(B) The Deputy Director shall receive compensation at an annual rate of pay that is $1,000 less than the annual rate of pay received by the Director, as determined under subparagraph (A).
(b) Personnel.—The Director shall appoint and fix the compensation of such personnel as may be necessary to carry out the duties and functions of the Office. All personnel of the Office shall be appointed without regard to political affiliation and solely on the basis of their fitness to perform their duties. The Director may prescribe the duties and responsibilities of the personnel of the Office, and delegate to them authority to perform any of the duties, powers, and functions imposed on the Office or on the Director. For purposes of pay (other than pay of the Director and Deputy Director) and employment benefits, rights, and privileges, all personnel of the Office shall be treated as if they were employees of the House of Representatives.
(c) Experts and Consultants.—In carrying out the duties and functions of the Office, the Director may procure the temporary (not to exceed one year) or intermittent services of experts or consultants or organizations thereof by contract as independent contractors, or, in the case of individual experts or consultants, by employment at rates of pay not in excess of the daily equivalent of the highest rate of basic pay payable under the General Schedule of section 5332 of title 5, United States Code.
(d) Relationship to Executive Branch.—The Director is authorized to secure information, data, estimates, and statistics directly from the various departments, agencies, and establishments of the executive branch of Government and the regulatory agencies and commissions of the Government. All such departments, agencies, establishments, and regulatory agencies and commissions shall furnish the Director any available material which he determines to be necessary in the performance of his duties and functions (other than material the disclosure of which would be a violation of law). The Director is also authorized, upon agreement with the head of any such department, agency, establishment, or regulatory agency or commission, to utilize its services, facilities, and personnel with or without reimbursement; and the head of each such department, agency, establishment, or regulatory agency or commission is authorized to provide the Office such services, facilities, and personnel.
(e) Relationship to Other Agencies of Congress.—In carrying out the duties and functions of the Office, and for the purpose of coordinating the operations of the Office with those of other congressional agencies with a view to utilizing most effectively the information, services, and capabilities of all such agencies in carrying out the various responsibilities assigned to each, the Director is authorized to obtain information, data, estimates, and statistics developed by the General Accounting Office,[2] and the Library of Congress, and (upon agreement with them) to utilize their services, facilities, and personnel with or without reimbursement. The Comptroller General,[3] and the Librarian of Congress are authorized to provide the Office with the information, data, estimates, and statistics, and the services, facilities, and personnel, referred to in the preceding sentence.
(f) Revenue Estimates.—For the purposes of revenue legislation which is income, estate and gift, excise, and payroll taxes (i.e., Social Security), considered or enacted in any session of Congress, the Congressional Budget Office shall use exclusively during that session of Congress revenue estimates provided to it by the Joint Committee on Taxation. During that session of Congress such revenue estimates shall be transmitted by the Congressional Budget Office to any committee of the House of Representatives or the Senate requesting such estimates, and shall be used by such Committees in determining such estimates. The Budget Committees of the Senate and House shall determine all estimates with respect to scoring points of order and with respect to the execution of the purposes of this Act.
(g) Appropriations.—There are authorized to be appropriated to the Office for each fiscal year such sums as may be necessary to enable it to carry out its duties and functions. Until sums are first appropriated pursuant to the preceding sentence, but for a period not exceeding 12 months following the effective date of this subsection, the expenses of the Office shall be paid from the contingent fund of the Senate, in accordance with the paragraph relating to the contingent fund of the Senate under the heading “under legislative” in the Act of October 1, 1888 (28 Stat. 546; 2 U.S.C. 68),[4] and upon vouchers approved by the Director.
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Counsel Notes
[1] Though the CBO Director is formally jointly appointed by the Speaker of the House and the President Pro Tem of the Senate, as a practical matter the choice is made by the Chairmen of the Budget Committees. This responsibility alternates between the House and Senate Chairs, with the House Chairman Tom Price, who went on to be fired from his position as Secretary of Health and Human Services in 2016, picked Director Keith Hall as Director.
[2] The “General Accounting Office” was renamed the “Government Accountability Office” by the GAO Human Capital Reform Act of 2004 (Pub. L. 108-271, 118 Stat. 811, enacted July 7, 2004).
Section 2 U.S.C. 68 was editorially reclassified by Law Revision Counsel as 2 U.S.C. 6503.
[3] So in original. Comma should not appear.
[4] The reference cited for “Senate Contingency Fund” is incorrect: The citation is the Act of October 2, 1988 in Volume 25, page 546 (Volume 25, page 546 (50th Congress; Vol. 25 -1887-1889). It also may be found here: Oct. 2, 1888, ch. 1069, 25 Stat. 546. In addition, section 2 U.S.C. 68 was editorially reclassified by Law Revision Counsel as 2 U.S.C. 6503. Subsection (g) is above shown as amended from the enacted text, but it is classified to the U.S. Code in modified form as follows:
(g) Authorization of appropriations
There are authorized to be appropriated to the Office for each fiscal year such sums as may be necessary to enable it to carry out its duties and functions. Until sums are first appropriated pursuant to the preceding sentence, but for a period not exceeding 12 months following the effective date of this subsection, the expenses of the Office shall be paid from the contingent fund of the Senate, in accordance with section 6503 of this title, and upon vouchers approved by the Director.
Codification
This section is classified to the U.S. Code at 2 U.S.C. 601. In title II of the U.S. Code, sections 601 through 612 govern the Congressional Budget Office, but only the first three of these were enacted by the Congressional Budget Act of 1974.
SECTION 201 (CBA, As Enacted)
See. 201. Establishment of Office.
SECTION 201 (CBA, as in BPLA)
Section 201 (CBA, as in BPLA), as set forth in the Budget Process Law Annotated (1993).
References
Legislative History Notes
Public Laws
Pub. L. 93–344, title II, §201, July 12, 1974, 88 Stat. 302; (Congressional Budget Act of 1974).
Pub. L. 99–177, title II, §273, Dec. 12, 1985, 99 Stat. 1098, (Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985).
Pub. L. 101–508, title XIII, §13202(a), (c), Nov. 5, 1990, 104 Stat. 1388–615; (Budget Enforcement Act of 1990).
Pub. L. 101–508, title XIII, §13202(b), Nov. 5, 1990, 104 Stat. 1388–615 (Budget Enforcement Act of 1990) redesignated §201(f) as (g) of Pub. L. 93–344 (Congressional Budget Act of 1974).
Pub. L. 105–33, title X, §10102, Aug. 5, 1997, 111 Stat. 678 (Budget Enforcement Act of 1997).
Pub. L. 106–113, div. B, §1000(a)(5) [title II, §224], Nov. 29, 1999, 113 Stat. 1536, 1501A-299 (Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2000).
Pub. L. 108–271, §8(b), July 7, 2004, 118 Stat. 814 (GAO Human Capital Reform Act of 2004).
References in Text
The reference to the “Act” means subsection (f) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (Pub. L. 93–344, July 12, 1974, 88 Stat. 297), as amended, which are the first nine titles of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974.
Amendments
2004
Subsection (e).
The GAO Human Capital Reform Act of 2004 (Pub. L. 108–271) substituted “Government Accountability Office” for “General Accounting Office”.
1999
Subsection (a)(5).
Pub. L. 106–113 amended par. (5) generally. Prior to amendment, par. (5) read as follows: “The Director shall receive compensation at a per annum gross rate equal to the rate of basic pay, as in effect from time to time, for level III of the Executive Schedule in section 5314 of title 5. The Deputy Director shall receive compensation at a per annum gross rate equal to the rate of basic pay, as so in effect, for level IV of the Executive Schedule in section 5315 of such title”
1997
Subsection (a)(3).
Pub. L. 105–33, §10102(a), substituted “The term of office of the Director shall be 4 years and shall expire on January 3 of the year preceding each Presidential election.” for “The term of office of the Director first appointed shall expire at noon on January 3, 1979, and the terms of office of Directors subsequently appointed shall expire at noon on January 3 of each fourth year thereafter.”
Subsection (e).
Pub. L. 105–33, §10102(b), inserted “and” before “the Library”, struck out “and the Office of Technology Assessment,” after “Library of Congress,”, inserted “and” before “the Librarian”, and struck out “, and the Technology Assessment Board” after “Librarian of Congress”.
Subsections (f) and (g).
Pub. L. 105–33, §10102(c), redesignated subsection (g), relating to revenue estimates, as (f).
1990
Subsection (f) and subsection (g).
Pub. L. 101–508, §13202(a) of the Budget Enforcement Act of 1990 redesignated subsection (f), relating to authorization of appropriations, as subsection (g).
Pub. L. 101–508, §13202(a) of the BEA 1990 transferred section 273 of BBEDCA to this section of CBA, but mistakenly designated as “subsection (g)” resulting in two “subsection (g)” provisions in the section and no “subsection (f)”.
Pub. L. 101–508, §13202(a) of the BEA 1990 amended the previous subsection (f), now redesignated as a second subsection (g), by inserting the heading “Revenue estimates and substituted “this Act” for “this title and the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974”.
This error in drafting was corrected by the Budget Enforcement Act of 1997 (see under “1997” above).
Effective Date
Subsection (a) effective July 12, 1974, see section 905(a) of Pub. L. 93–344, and Subsections (b) to (f) effective on day on which first Director of Congressional Budget Office is appointed under Subsection (a), see section 905(a), (b) of Pub. L. 93–344, formerly set out as a note under section 621 of this title.
References in Other Laws to GS–16, 17, or 18 Pay Rates
The General Schedule is a schedule of annual rates of basic pay, consisting of 15 grades, designated “GS–1” through “GS–15”, consecutively, with 10 rates of pay for each such grade. These rates are adjusted periodically according to 5 U.S.C. 5303.
Certain laws refer to rates of pay for GS–16, 17, or 18, or to maximum rates of pay under the General Schedule, though these are now abolished. These references are now considered to be rates payable under section 529 of Pub. L. 101–509 (Treasury, Postal Service and General Government Appropriations Act, 1991), which sets forth the Federal Employees Pay Comparability Act of 1990 (FEPCA). Sec. 101(c)(1) of FEPCA (Pub. L. 101-509, 104 Stat. 1442) set forth those specifications.
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[BCR § 107]
Budget Counsel 