Budget resolution definition
A budget resolution is Congress’s yearly blueprint setting spending, revenue, and debt targets to guide later budget laws.
A budget resolution (also known as a concurrent resolution) is the second step in the government budget process. It's preceded by the president’s budget request and followed by budget hearings in both the House and Senate. The resolution itself is a blueprint, adopted separately by the House of Representatives and the Senate, for federal spending, revenues, deficits or surpluses, and public debt for the upcoming fiscal year — along with projected plans for at least the next five years.
The budget resolution gives Congress a framework for considering subsequent spending, revenue, and debt-limit legislation. It establishes overall totals, not line-item details. Congress is supposed to pass a budget resolution by April 15 each year (but they frequently miss the deadline).
After the budget resolutions are passed in the House and Senate, the Appropriations Committees in each body draft annual appropriations bills within the limits set by the budget resolution. These bills, once enacted and signed by the President, provide the actual funding for government operations.
Is a budget resolution a law?
No — budget resolutions are not legally binding. They aren’t submitted to the president and don’t have the force of law.
Although it isn’t binding outside Congress, a budget resolution has procedural consequences inside Congress. The levels of spending, revenue, and debt they establish guide congressional actions; the per-committee allocations they set are binding within Congress; and the instructions they include for passing reconciliation bills (i.e., bills that change spending, revenue, or debt laws) can lead to binding laws.
