The budget and appropriations process is fluid and does not always adhere to the timeline set forth below.

February – The President submits his budget proposal to Congress no later than the first Monday in February. This proposal outlines the President’s ideal spending levels for each agency; however, it is a non-binding proposal leaving Congress free to make their own judgments on spending levels.

March to April – Congressional Committees have six weeks to submit their budget estimates to the Budget Committees. Then the budget committees begin formulating their budget resolutions. Note: the budget resolution sets limits on spending levels and public debt, but does not outline spending levels for agencies or individual programs. Those details are included in the individual appropriations bills Congress considers later in the year.

March to May – The Armed Services Committees begin to formulate and introduce their versions of the annual defense authorization bill which sets spending for the Department of Defense and defense-related programs at the Department of Energy.

April 15 – House and Senate must complete work on their budget resolutions no later than this date. Once work is completed, both chambers consider and adopt the budget resolution. The President does not sign the bill.
May to June – The House considers and passes the defense authorization legislation which is then sent to the Senate for consideration.

May to July – The Appropriations Committees begin formulating and setting discretionary spending amounts for the various government agencies and programs. Note: Discretionary spending is optional spending set by Congress each year. Entitlements like Medicare and Social Security are considered mandatory spending and are not subject to annual congressional consideration.

June to July – The House begins consideration of the 12 annual appropriations measures. The defense appropriations bill is generally the last bill to be brought before the House and is often considered at roughly the end of July. At this same time, the Senate may also begin consideration of any appropriations measures that have passed the House.

September to October – Appropriations bills are considered and passed in the Senate and the differences between House and Senate versions are reconciled. All appropriations bills must be considered, passed and signed into law before October 1 to avoid a federal government shutdown.

Defense authorization is also considered by the Senate and passed during this time. Differences between the House and Senate versions are then resolved and a final version is passed by both Houses and sent to the President for his signature.

Note: Often, Congress is not able to pass all 12 appropriations bills before the October 1 deadline and thus, is forced to pass stop gap legislation known as a continuing resolution or CR to keep the federal government operating.