| United States Senate Committee On Appropriations |
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]] The Senate Appropriations Committee is the largest committee in the U.S. Senate, consisting of 29 members. Its role is defined by the U.S. Constitution , which requires "appropriations made by law" prior to the expenditure of any money from the Treasury, and is therefore one of the most powerful committees in the Senate. The committee was first organized on March 6 , 1867 , when power over appropriations was taken out of the hands of the Finance Committee . The chairman of the Appropriations Committee has enormous power to bring home special projects (sometimes referred to as " Pork Barrel Spending ") for his or her state as well as having the final say on other Senator's appropriation requests. For example, in Fiscal Year 2005 Per Capita federal spending in Alaska, the home state of then-Chairman Ted Stevens , is $12,000, double the national average. Alaska has 11,772 special earmarked projects for a combined cost of $15,780,623,000. This represents about 4 % of the overall spending in the $388 billion Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2005 passed by Congress. THE APPROPRIATIONS PROCESS The federal budget is divided into two main categories: Discretionary Spending And Mandatory Spending . Each appropriations subcommittee develops a draft Appropriations Bill covering each agency under its jurisdication based on the Congressional Budget Resolution , which is drafted by an analogous Senate Budget Committee . Each subcommittee must adhere to the spending limits set by the budget resolution and allocations set by the full Appropriations Committee, though the full Senate may vote to waive those limits if 60 senators vote to do so. The committee also reviews supplemental spending bills (covering unforeseen or emergency expenses not previously budgeted). Each appropriations bill must be passed by both houses of Congress and signed by the president prior to the start of the federal fiscal year, October 1. If that target is not met, as has been common in recent years, the committee drafts a Continuing Resolution , which is then approved by Congress and signed by the President to keep the federal government operating until the individual bills are approved. MEMBERS, 110TH CONGRESS The Committee is currently chaired by Democrat Robert C. Byrd of West Virginia , and the Ranking Minority Member is Republican Thad Cochran , of Mississippi .
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