United States Senate Committee on the Budget

The United States Senate Committee on the Budget was established by the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974. It is responsible for drafting Congress's annual budget plan and monitoring action on the budget for the Federal Government. The committee has jurisdiction over the Congressional Budget Office. The committee briefly operated as a special committee from 1919 to 1920 during the 66th Congress, before being made a standing committee in 1974.[1]

Senate Budget Committee
Standing committee
Active

United States Senate
118th Congress
History
Formed1974
Leadership
ChairSheldon Whitehouse (D)
Since January 3, 2023
Ranking memberChuck Grassley (R)
Since January 3, 2023
Structure
Seats21
Political partiesMajority (11)
  •   Democratic (10)
  •   Independent (1)
Minority (10)
Jurisdiction
Policy areasBudgetary policy and process, Fiscal policy, Government spending, Public debt, Tax expenditures
Oversight authorityCongressional Budget Office
House counterpartHouse Budget Committee
Meeting place
608 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Website
www.budget.senate.gov
Rules

The current Chair is Rhode Island Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, and the Ranking Member is Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley.

Contrasted with other committees

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The Budget Committee should not be confused with the Finance Committee and the Appropriations Committee, both of which have different jurisdictions: The Finance Committee is analogous to the Ways and Means Committee in the House of Representatives; it has legislative jurisdiction in the areas of taxes, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and some other entitlements. The Appropriations Committee has legislative jurisdiction over appropriations bills, which provide funding for government programs.

While the budget resolution prepared by the Budget Committee sets out a broad blueprint for the Congress with respect to the total levels of revenues and spending for the government as a whole, these other Committees prepare bills for specific tax and spending policies.

118th Congress

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Majority[2] Minority[3]

Chairs, 1975–present

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Chairs Party State Years
Edmund S. Muskie Democratic Maine 1975–1980
Ernest F. Hollings Democratic South Carolina 1980–1981
Pete Domenici Republican New Mexico 1981–1987
Lawton Chiles Democratic Florida 1987–1989
James Sasser Democratic Tennessee 1989–1995
Pete Domenici Republican New Mexico 1995–2001
Kent Conrad Democratic North Dakota 2001[b]
Pete Domenici Republican New Mexico 2001
Kent Conrad Democratic North Dakota 2001–2003[c]
Don Nickles Republican Oklahoma 2003–2005
Judd Gregg Republican New Hampshire 2005–2007
Kent Conrad Democratic North Dakota 2007–2013
Patty Murray Democratic Washington 2013–2015
Mike Enzi Republican Wyoming 2015–2021
Bernie Sanders Independent[a] Vermont 2021–2023
Sheldon Whitehouse Democratic Rhode Island 2023–present

Historical membership rosters

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117th Congress

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Majority Minority

Source:[4]

116th Congress

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Majority Minority

115th Congress

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Majority Minority

114th Congress

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Majority Minority

113th Congress

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Majority Minority

112th Congress

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Majority Minority

111th Congress

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Majority Minority

110th Congress

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Majority Minority

109th Congress

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Majority Minority

Notes

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Senator is formally an independent but caucuses with the Democrats.
  2. ^ At the beginning of the 107th Congress in January 2001 the Senate was evenly divided. With a Democratic president and vice president still serving until January 20, the Democratic vice president was available to break a tie, and the Democrats thus controlled the Senate for 17 days, from January 3 to January 20. On January 3 the Senate adopted S. Res. 7 designating Democratic senators as committee chairmen to serve during this period and Republican chairmen to serve effective at noon on January 20, 2001.
  3. ^ On June 6, 2001, the Democrats took control of the Senate after Senator James Jeffords (VT) changed from the Republican Party to Independent and announced that he would caucus with the Democrats.

References

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  1. ^ Walter Stubbs (1985), Congressional Committees, 1789–1982: A Checklist, Greenwood Press, pp. 16–17
  2. ^ S.Res. 30 (118th Congress)
  3. ^ S.Res. 31 (118th Congress)
  4. ^ "Committee Members | U.S. Senate Committee on the Budget".
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