Introduction Congress uses an annual appropriations process to fund discretionary spending, which supports the projects and activities of most federal government agencies. This process anticipates the enactment of 12 regular appropriations bills each fiscal year. If regular appropriations are not enacted prior to the start of the fiscal year (October 1), continuing appropriations may be used to provide temporary funding until the consideration of annual appropriations measures is completed. Continuing appropriations acts are often referred to as "continuing resolutions" (CRs), because historically they have been enacted in the form of a joint resolution. CRs also contain numerous provisions that may operate as limitations or restrictions to preserve Congress's prerogative to make funding decisions once final bills are agreed to. Numerous exceptions (or anomalies) are also often included in CRs to provide changes to funding rates, or for other purposes, to address special circumstances that may result with only temporary funding. Other rescissions or cancellations of discretionary budget authority may also be included in CRs. CRs may be enacted for a period of days, weeks, or months. If any of the 12 regular appropriations bills are still not enacted by the time that the first CR for a fiscal year expires, further extensions might be enacted until all regular appropriations bills have been completed or the fiscal year ends. None of the FY2020 regular appropriations bills was enacted prior to the start of the new fiscal year on October 1, 2019. On September 18, 2019, H.R. 4378 was introduced in the House to provide continuing appropriations for projects and activities covered by all 12 of the regular annual appropriations bills from the beginning of the fiscal year through November 21, 2019 (Division A). The legislation also included a separate Division B to extend authorization for multiple federal health care programs. The House passed the legislation on September 19, 2019, by a vote of 301-123. The Senate subsequently passed the legislation by a vote of 81-16 on September 26, 2019. On September 27, 2019, the President signed H.R. 4378 into law ( P.L. 116-59 ). This report provides an analysis of the continuing appropriations provisions included in the CR ( H.R. 4378 , Division A). The first two sections summarize the overall funding provided ("Coverage, Duration, and Rate") and budget enforcement issues associated with the statutory discretionary spending limits ("The CR and the Statutory Discretionary Spending Limits"). The third section of this report provides short summaries of the provisions that are agency-, account-, or program-specific. These summaries are organized by appropriations act title. In some instances, background information about the history of those appropriations, and how they operate under a CR, is provided. Coverage, Duration, and Rate Three components of a CR generally establish the purpose, duration, and amount of funds provided by the act: 1. A CR's "coverage" relates to the purposes for which funds are provided. The projects and activities funded by a CR are typically specified with reference to regular (and, occasionally, supplemental) appropriations acts from the previous fiscal year. When a CR refers to one of those appropriations acts and provides funds for the projects and activities included in such an act, the CR is often referred to as "covering" that act. 2. The "duration" of a CR refers to the period of time for which budget authority is provided for covered activities. 3. CRs usually fund projects and activities using a "rate for operations" or "funding rate" to provide budget authority at a restricted level but do not prescribe a specified dollar amount. The funding rate for a project or activity is based on the total amount of budget authority that would be available annually for that project or activity under the referenced appropriations acts and is prorated based on the fraction of a year for which the CR is in effect, but it may also be affected by other factors that can have an effect on spending patterns over the course of a fiscal year. Coverage H.R. 4378 (Â§101) covers all 12 of the regular annual appropriations bills by generally providing continuing budget authority for FY2020 through November 21, 2019, for projects and activities funded in FY2019. Budget authority is provided by the CR under the same terms and conditions as the referenced FY2019 appropriations acts (Â§103). Effectively, this requirement extends many of the provisions in the FY2019 acts that stipulated or limited agency authorities during FY2019. In addition, in general, none of the funds are to be used to initiate or resume an activity for which budget authority was not available in FY2019 (Â§104). Such provisions, as well as many of the other provisions discussed in the sections below, may protect Congress's constitutional authority to provide annual funding in the manner it chooses in whatever final appropriations measures may be enacted. Statutory limits on discretionary spending are in effect for FY2020, as adjusted by the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2019 (BBA 2019; P.L. 116-37 ). The CR includes both budget authority that is subject to those limits and also budget authority that is effectively exempt from those limitsâincluding that designated or otherwise provided as "Overseas Contingency Operations/Global War on Terrorism" (OCO/GWOT) or "emergency requirements," as well as limited amounts that may be designated as "disaster relief or "program integrity initiatives." Amounts previously receiving an OCO/GWOT, emergency, or disaster relief designation for FY2019 continue to receive this designation through the length of the CR (Â§114). Duration Section 101 provides that funding in the CR is effective through November 21, 2019âroughly a seven-week period of funding. The CR provides that, in general, budget authority for some or all projects and activities could be superseded by the enactment of the applicable regular appropriations act or another CR prior to November 21. For projects and activities funded in the CR that a subsequent appropriations act does not fund, budget authority would immediately cease upon such enactment, even if enactment occurs prior to November 21. However, the CR provides some exceptions to this. For instance, the OCO/GWOT designations (Â§114) are specified to remain in effect through November 21. Similarly, an anomaly affecting the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative is specified to remain in effect until September 30, 2020. Rate In general, the CR provides budget authority at levels provided in FY2019 appropriations acts for the duration of the CR (through November 21). The rate is based on the actual amounts made available in FY2019. A few exceptions, however, to this continued rate of operations are specified in Section 101. These adjustments are in addition to any additional exceptions specified in the various anomalies also included in later sections of the CR. For instance, five agencies are affected by variations to this general rate, including the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Rural Water and Waste Disposal Direct Loan Program, the Department of Justice's Assets Forfeiture Fund, the Bureau of Reclamation's Upper Colorado River Basin Fund, immigration authorizations affecting the Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of State's funding for Ebola. In addition, for entitlement and other mandatory spending provided in regular appropriations acts, funding is provided at the rate sufficient to maintain program levels under current law as provided in Section 111(a). The CR and the Statutory Discretionary Spending Limits Background Appropriations for FY2020 are subject to statutory discretionary spending limits on categories of spending designated as "defense" and "nondefense" spending pursuant to the Budget Control Act of 2011 (BCA), as modified by BBA 2019. The defense category includes all discretionary spending under budget function 050 (defense), and the nondefense category includes discretionary spending in the other budget functions. If discretionary spending is enacted in excess of a statutory limit in either category, the BCA requires the level of spending to be brought into conformance through "sequestration," which involves primarily across-the-board cuts to non-exempt spending in the category of the limit that was breached (i.e., defense or nondefense). Once discretionary spending is enacted, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) evaluates that spending relative to the spending limits and determines whether sequestration is necessary. For FY2020 discretionary spending, the first such evaluation (and any necessary enforcement) is to occur within 15 calendar days after the 2019 congressional session adjourns sine die . For any FY2020 discretionary spending that becomes law after the session ends, the OMB evaluation and any enforcement of the limits would occur 15 days after enactment. FY2020 The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates the budgetary effects of interim CRs on an "annualized" basis, meaning that those effects are measured as if the CR were providing budget authority for an entire fiscal year. According to CBO, the annualized amount for discretionary budget authority for regular appropriations subject to the BCA limits (including projects and activities funded at the rate for operations and anomalies) is $648.452 billion for defense, which is about $18 billion below the defense limit of $666.5 billion, and $604.669 for nondefense, which is about $17 billion below the nondefense limit of $621.5 billion for FY2020. H.R. 4378 specified that each amount incorporated in the legislation by reference, which was previously designated as OCO/GWOT or disaster relief and not subject to the discretionary spending caps, retains that same designation (Â§114). Thus when spending effectively not subject to those limitsâbecause it was designated or otherwise provided as OCO/GWOT, disaster relief, emergency requirement, or a program integrity adjustmentâis included, CBO estimates total annualized budget authority in the CR of $1.345 trillion, which is below the BBA 2019 agreement of $1.370 trillion. Agency-, Account-, and Program-Specific Provisions CRs lasting multiple weeks or longer usually include provisions that are specific to certain agencies, accounts, or programs. These provisions are generally of two types. First, certain provisions designate exceptions to the formula and purpose for which any referenced funding is extended. These are often referred to as "anomalies." They often address specific issues or circumstances that may result from the extension of only current rates of funding. Second, certain provisions may have the effect of creating new law or changing existing law. Most often, these provisions are used to renew expiring provisions of law or extend the scope of certain existing statutory requirements. Substantive provisions that establish major new policies have also been included on occasion. Unless otherwise indicated, such provisions are temporary in nature and expire when the CR expires. These anomalies and provisions that change law may be included at the request of the President. Congress could accept, reject, or modify such proposals in the course of drafting and considering CRs. In addition, Congress may identify or initiate any other anomalies and provisions changing law that it seeks to include in the CR. This section of the report summarizes provisions in H.R. 4378 that are agency-, account-, or program-specific. They are alphabetically organized by appropriations act title for 11 of the 12 regular appropriations acts covered in Section 101. (There are no anomalies concerning items funded in the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act.) The summaries generally provide brief explanations of the provisions. In some cases they include additional information, such as whether a provision was requested by the President or included in prior year CRs. For additional information on specific provisions in the CR, congressional clients may contact the CRS appropriations experts, as noted in the accompanying footnote. Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies15 Section 101(1)âRural Water and Waste Disposal Direct Loan Program16 This section authorizes USDA to spend appropriated funds in the Rural Water and Waste Disposal Program Account on the cost of direct loans, in addition to the costs of loan guarantees and grants that were authorized in FY2019. In FY2019, direct loans did not require budget authority because the program had a negative subsidy rate (i.e., the cost of providing loans was less than estimated repayments and fees). For FY2020, OMB estimates that the direct loan program will have a positive subsidy rate. Section 116âDisaster Assistance for Sugar Beet Processors17 This section amends the list of eligible losses that may be covered under the Additional Supplemental Appropriations for Disaster Relief Act of FY2019 ( P.L. 116-20 , Title I) to include payments to cooperative processors for reduced sugar beet quantity and quality. The FY2019 supplemental provided $3 billion to cover agricultural production losses in 2018 and 2019 from natural disasters. Section 117âSpecialty Crop Research Initiative19 This section allows USDA to waive the non-federal matching funds requirement for grants made under the Specialty Crop Research Initiative (7 U.S.C. Â§7632(g)(3)). The matching funds provision was added in the 2018 farm bill ( P.L. 115-334 ). Section 118âSummer Food for Children Demonstrations Projects20 This section allocates funding for the USDA Food and Nutrition Service summer food for children demonstration projects at a rate that ensures that the projects can fully operate by May 2020 (prior to summer meal service, which typically starts in June). Similar provisions have been part of previous CRs. These projects, which include the Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer demonstration, have operated in selected states since FY2010. Section 119âCommodity Credit Corporation (CCC)22 This section allows CCC to receive its appropriation to reimburse the Treasury for a line of credit about a month earlier than usual prior to a customary final report and audit. Many farm bill payments to farmers are due in October 2019, including to USDA's plan to make supplemental payments under a trade assistance program. Without the anomaly, CCC might have exhausted its $30 billion line of credit in October or November before the audit is completed, which could suspend payments. This provision was part of a CR in FY2019. In addition, the measure requires USDA to submit a report to Congress by October 31, 2019, with various disaggregated details about Market Facilitation Program payments, trade damages, and whether commodities were purchased from foreign-owned companies under the program. Section 120âHemp Production Program25 This section provides $16.5 million on an annualized basis to the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service to implement the Hemp Production Program ( P.L. 115-334 , Â§10113), which was created in the 2018 farm bill. Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Section 101(2)âAssets Forfeiture Fund27 In addition to allowing the agencies funded through the annual CJS appropriations act to continue operations at the FY2019-enacted level, Section 101 states that the $674.0 million rescission on the Assets Forfeiture Fund that was enacted as a part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019 ( P.L. 116-6 ), will not be in effect for the duration of the CR. The Administration requested this anomaly because the rescission would limit the operations of the Department of Justice's Assets Forfeiture program, including equitable sharing payments made to state and local law enforcement for participating in operations that led to forfeited assets. Section 121âU.S. International Trade Commission28 This section allows the U.S. International Trade Commission to apportion funding at a rate necessary to meet the commission's responsibilities under the American Manufacturing Competitiveness Act of 2016 ( P.L. 114-159 ). Section 122âBureau of the Census30 This section allows the Census Bureau to draw on money from the Periodic Censuses and Programs accountâwhich includes the decennial census and other major programs such as the economic census, the census of governments, and intercensal demographic estimates, together with geographic and data-processing supportâat the rate necessary to maintain the schedule and deliver the required data according to the statutory deadlines in the 2020 Decennial Census Program. Department of Defense Section 102âProhibition on 'New Starts' and Increasing Production Rates31 Section 102 is similar to provisions typically included in CRs in previous years. The provision prohibits the Department of Defense (DOD) from funding either so-called new startsâthat is, procurement or research and development of a major program for which funding was not provided in FY2019âor acceleration of rate of production for any major program for which FY2019 procurement funding was provided. Section 123âAdvance Billing Exemption for Background Investigations32 Section 123 authorizes the DOD to exceed the $1 billion limit on advance billing "for background investigation services and related services" purchased from activities financed using working capital funds. A working capital fund is a type of revolving fund intended to operate as a self-supporting entity to fund business-like activities. The provision is intended to enable DOD to conduct background investigations with minimal interruptions. According to information OMB sent to lawmakers, the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency Working Capital Fund, which was scheduled to begin operations October 1, 2019, plans to bill customers prior to completing background investigations and "is likely to exceed $1 billion in advanced billing in FY2020." Section 124âUkraine Security Assistance Initiative35 Section 124 appropriates funding for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative. The initiative is intended to "increase Ukraine's ability to defend against further aggression by theater adversaries or their proxies by providing support for ongoing training and advisory programs and equipment to enhance Ukraine's command and control; situational awareness systems; secure communications; military mobility; night vision; military medical treatment; maritime and border security operations; and defensive weapons systems," according to DOD. In August 2019, news organizations reported that the Trump Administration withheld funding for the initiative. The department expected to obligate all but approximately $30 million of the $250 million in FY2019 appropriations for the initiative by the end of the fiscal year. Section 124(a) rescinds unobligated FY2019 funds for the initiative. Section 124(b) appropriates an FY2020 amount equal to the unobligated FY2019 fundsâin addition to the amount otherwise provided for the initiative, at a rate for operations, by the continuing resolution. Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Section 125âColorado River Basins Power Marketing Fund39 Section 125 provides that for the duration of the CR, no funding may be transferred from the Western Area Power Administration's (WAPA) Colorado River Basins Power Marketing Fund to the General Fund of the Treasury. Due to a scorekeeping adjustment by the Trump Administration, the historically common practice of transferring funds from WAPA's Colorado River Basins Power Marketing Fund (which receives revenues from hydropower sales in the Colorado River Basin) to the Bureau of Reclamation's Upper Colorado River Basin Fund (which funds environmental mitigation responsibilities associated with the Colorado River Storage Project, among other things) has not been executed in recent years. Instead, these WAPA funds have been transferred to the General Fund of the Treasury. Congress has opposed the change and attempted to counteract it in appropriations legislation through additional appropriations to the Upper Colorado River Basin Fund and restrictions on WAPA transfers to the General Fund. Section 126âCalfed Bay-Delta Act Extension41 Section 126 extends the authority for the Bureau of Reclamation to conduct activities under the Calfed Bay-Delta Authorization Act ( P.L. 108-361 , 118 Stat. 1681) from the end of FY2019 to the date of the CR's expiration. This authority allows the Bureau of Reclamation to undertake activities related to formulating a long-term comprehensive plan to restore the ecological health and improve the water management of California's Bay-Delta system. Activities under this authority include long-term levee protection, water quality, ecosystem restoration, water use efficiency, and water-supply-related studies and projects. Financial Services and General Government42 Section 127âCommittee on Foreign Investment in the United States43 This section provides $15 million in appropriations for the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) Fund. This fund was created in P.L. 115-232 , which authorized $20 million for FY2019-FY2023. Prior to this, CFIUS was not provided a separate appropriation within the Department of the Treasury. Section 128âDistrict of Columbia45 This section grants congressional approval for DC officials to expend locally raised funds for purposes made available under P.L. 116-6 (Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019) at a rate set forth in the Fiscal Year 2020 Local Budget Act of 2019 (D.C. Act 23-78). DC political leaders have consistently expressed concern that passage of the appropriations act for the District (in which Congress approves the city's budget) has too often been delayed until well after the start of the District's fiscal year, hindering their ability to manage the District's financial affairs and negatively affecting the delivery of public services. Section 129âOffice of Personnel Management46 This section provides an additional $48 million to the Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) Salaries and Expenses account for administrative expenses for 2019. Of this amount, $29,760,000 is to be transferred from trust funds. Such amounts may be apportioned up to the rate for operations necessary to maintain OPM's operations. OPM previously reported to Congress that the agency would experience a budget shortfall exacerbated by the transfer of the National Background Investigations Bureau from OPM to DOD. Section 130âSmall Business Administration (SBA)47 This section provides an additional $99 million for the Small Business Administration (SBA) 7(a) loan guaranty program. The 7(a) loan guarantees are one of SBA's primary programs, providing loans to small businesses that might not otherwise find financing. The funding under the CR may be apportioned at the rate necessary to meet demand. Section 131âSBA Disaster Loan Program49 This section provides additional funding for SBA disaster loans at a rate of $177 million, with $167 million of this for administrative expenses to carry out the direct loan program and $151 million of this directed to major disasters. This funding is to be considered designated for disaster relief under the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 ( P.L. 99-177 ). Department of Homeland Security (DHS)51 Section 101(6)âImmigration Authorization Extensions52 The funding baseline for DHS in H.R. 4378 was the rate of allowable spending and authorities in two separate parts of P.L. 116-6 : Division A, which is the FY2019 DHS appropriations act, and Title I of Division H, which is a series of immigration authorization extensions. These immigration authorization extensions have been carried as anomalies in past CRs, extended by including them as general provisions in the DHS appropriations act (and thus carried forward automatically by the CR, which extends authorities provided in the act), or included in a separate "Immigration Extensions" title in consolidated appropriations legislation and extending that by direct reference in Section 101 of the CR. While the procedural form has varied, the immigration authorization extensions referenced in H.R. 4378 include four that have been extended since FY2016: Extension of authority for pilot programs for employment eligibility confirmation; Extension of religious worker visa program; Extension of rural medical worker immigration authority; and Extension of investor visa program. The reference also includes a fifth extensionâan increase in the annual cap on H-2B visas, which has been extended through CRs since FY2018. It is the only one of these provisions included in the House Committee-reported version of the FY2020 DHS appropriations act ( H.R. 3931 , Â§532). Section 132âSpecial Apportionment, Secret Service53 H.R. 4378 includes faster apportionment for the Secret Service "to support hiring and operations required for protective activities associated with the 2020 presidential election campaign." The Administration requested a provision with broader authority. A similar provision in a FY2015 CR provided authority for faster apportionment for what was then the Secret Service's "Salaries and Expenses" appropriation to cover presidential candidate nominee protection. Section 133âFEMA Disaster Relief Fund56 The Administration requested an accelerated rate of apportionment for the Disaster Relief Fund (DRF) to ensure that Stafford Act programs can be carried out. While the Administration stated, "Without the anomaly, the amounts automatically apportioned would impede comprehensive [DRF] response and recovery activities during the period of the CR should a catastrophic event be declared," the side of the DRF that funds major disaster costs is historically flush. Similar provisions were included in both the FY2018 CR ( P.L. 115-56 , Division D, Â§129) and the first FY2019 CR ( P.L. 115-245 , Division C, Â§124). Section 134âNational Flood Insurance Program57 The Administration requested an extension of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) as part of the CR. Authority to issue new policies for the NFIP would have expired on September 30, 2019, in the absence of an extension either as a part of this vehicle or on its own. H.R. 4378 extends the program's authorization for the length of the CR. CRs have been a vehicle for extending NFIP authorization as far back as FY1998 ( P.L. 105-46 , Â§118), although the legislative language has taken different forms. More recently, a short-term reauthorization of the NFIP was carried in the first FY2018 CR ( P.L. 115-56 , Division D, Â§130). The second CR for FY2019 ( P.L. 115-298 , which added a new Section 136 to P.L. 115-245 , Division C) also extended the authorization. In both cases, the extension was limited to the duration of the CR. Section 135âRestructuring of the Working Capital Fund60 CRs normally require funds to be apportioned and obligated in the same manner as was the case in the prior annual appropriation. In this case, DHS appropriations is to follow the terms and conditions of P.L. 116-6 , Division Aâthe FY2019 DHS appropriations act. The Administration, however, proposed a restructuring of some accounts in its FY2020 budget request and asked for authority to act as if those changes had been approved by Congress so that if they are approved, manual administrative adjustments to obligations and disbursements would not be required. Section 135 allows apportionment for these specified accounts to occur consistent with the FY2020 budget request. The first FY2018 CR ( P.L. 115-56 , Division D, Â§125) and FY2019 CR ( P.L. 115-245 , Division C, Â§128) each carried an almost identical provision requested by the Administration. Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Section 136âIndian Health Service61 This provision authorizes the apportionment of appropriations that are provided by the CR of up to $18.4 billion for the Indian Health Services (IHS) account and $631,000 for the Indian Health Facilities account to staff and operate IHS facilities that were or will be opened, renovated, or expanded during either FY2019 or FY2020. The provision allows for higher rates of funding than would otherwise be provided under the CR to operate and provide health services at these newly renovated or constructed health facilities, as new or expanded facilities may need additional resources for operations (e.g., to hire staff and obtain equipment). Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Section 137âStrategic National Stockpile62 Section 137 states that amounts obligated for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Public Health Preparedness and Response budget line and the Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund (PHSSEF) budget line for the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Office of the Secretary (OS) may be obligated in the account and budget structure and under authorities and conditions set forth in the House-passed Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, Defense, State, Foreign Operations, and Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act, 2020 ( H.R. 2740 , Division A). This provision would account for the Trump Administration's intradepartmental transfer of the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) from CDC to the Assistant Secretary of Preparedness and Response in HHS OS in FY2019. The SNS provides select medicines and medical supplies during public health emergencies that overwhelm local availability. H.R. 2740 would provide SNS funding to the HHS OS PHSSEF budget line rather than the CDC Public Health Preparedness and Response budget line (where funds were allocated in previous fiscal years). The report accompanying H.R. 2740 ( H.Rept. 116-62 ) provides the following explanation of congressional intent in the context of that legislative proposal with regard to the SNS and associated policy issues: "The Committee expects that CDC will continue its significant role in providing scientific expertise in decision-making related to procurement of countermeasures, and maintaining strong relationships with State and local public health departments to facilitate efficient deployment of countermeasures in public health emergencies." Section 138âEbola Transfer Authority65 Section 138 authorizes the transfer to the CDC of up to $20 million for Ebola preparedness and response activities from the Infectious Disease Rapid Response Reserve Fund. This fund was established by Section 231 of the Department of Defense and Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Act, 2019 and Continuing Appropriations Act, 2019 ( P.L. 115-245 ), which included $50 million to support activities "to prevent, prepare for, or respond to an infectious disease emergency." The funds were to remain available until expended and are available to be used only for an infectious disease emergency that (1) is declared by the Secretary of Health and Human Services; or (2) as determined by the Secretary, has significant potential to occur imminently and, on occurrence, potential to affect national security or the health and security of United States citizens, domestically or internationally. This anomaly makes up to $20 million in unobligated reserve funds available without requiring the Secretary to declare the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo a threat to national security or to U.S. citizens. On July 17, 2019, the World Health Organization declared that the ongoing Ebola outbreak was a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). Section 139âNational Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity68 Section 139 extends the duration of the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity (NACIQI) through November 21, 2019. NACIQI is a committee tasked with assessing the process of accreditation and the institutional eligibility and certification of institutions of higher education to participate in federal student aid programs authorized under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965. Section 114(f) of the act provides that NACIQI shall terminate on September 30, 2019. Section 422 of the General Education Provisions Act (GEPA) generally provides an automatic one-year extension of the authorization of appropriations for, or the duration of, programs administered by the Department of Education. This automatic extension would occur only if Congress and the Presidentâin the regular session that ends prior to the beginning of the terminal fiscal year of authorization or duration of an applicable programâdo not enact legislation extending the program. GEPA Section 422 also explicitly states that the automatic one-year extension does not apply to the authorization of appropriations for, or the duration of, committees that are required by statute to terminate on a specific date. Thus, the automatic one-year extension does not apply to NACIQI, and NACIQI would have terminated on September 30, 2019, had it not been extended. Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Section 140âBlue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans71 Section 140 of the CR allows the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to use funds in both the Veterans Benefits Administration, General Operating Expenses account and the Departmental Administration, Information Technology Systems account at a higher apportionment rate. This higher rate is provided to allow the VA to begin implementing provisions of the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act of 2019 ( P.L. 116-23 ). State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Section 101(11)âExclusion of Provision on Unobligated Ebola Funding73 Section 101(11) of the CR extends the authorities of the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2019 (Division F of P.L. 116-6 ), to November 21, 2019, with the exception of Section 7058(d) of that law. That section authorized the repurposing of unobligated emergency funds appropriated in FY2015 to address the Ebola outbreak to instead build partner country capacity to prevent, detect, and respond to infectious disease outbreaks and to support an Emergency Reserve Fund. Removing the authorization to repurpose funds may be to ensure emergency funds remain available to respond to the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (see Section 138). Section 141âExport-Import Bank74 Section 141 extends the authority of the Export-Import Bank, which would otherwise have expired on September 30, 2019, to November 21, 2019. Section 142âCommission on International Religious Freedom75 Section 142 extends the authority of the Commission on International Religious Freedom, which would otherwise have expired on September 30, 2019, to November 21, 2019. Departments of Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Section 143âFederal Transit Administration, Capital Investment Grants76 This provision is intended to ensure that applicants for the Federal Transit Administration's (FTA) FY2018 capital investment grantsâwhich have been allocated funding but have not yet been able to satisfy the requirements for FTA to obligate the funding to themâdo not have their allocated funding redistributed to other applicants if they cannot satisfy the requirements for FTA to obligate the money to them by December 31, 2019. These FTA grants typically have a three-year window of availability. The provision in P.L. 115-141 was added with the intent to ensure that the Trump Administration's FTA did not excessively delay providing the transit grants to applicants. Section 144âMass Transit Account, Highway Trust Fund77 This provision avoids a situation in which FTA capital investment grants to transit agencies would be reduced due to a reduction in the appropriated level resulting from the application of IRS provision: Section 9503(e)(4) . Similar language is in the House-passed Commerce, Justice, Science, Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, Interior, Environment, Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Act, 2020 ( H.R. 3055 , Â§164(1)). Section 145âHousing for the Elderly78 This section allows amounts made available in the Housing for the Elderly account to be apportioned at a rate necessary to allow the Department of Housing and Urban Development to maintain rental assistance contracts that are coming up for renewal or require additional funding in order to continue to subsidize the rents of low-income elderly residents of Section 202 properties. Other Provisions Sections 108 and 112âApportionment Section 108 provides daily spending rate flexibility to agencies by waiving time limitations. Section 112 allows that the apportionment rate may avoid furloughs, which is consistent with past appropriations acts. These provisions have been included in past CRs. Section 111(b)âMandatory Payments Section 111(b) authorizes obligations for mandatory payments due "on or about" the first day of any month that begins between October 1, 2019, and 30 days after the CR is set to expire (i.e., through December 21, 2019, but effectively until December 1, 2019). Programs impacted include the funds for payments through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). These payments, while mandatory spending, are appropriated each year to USDA through the regular appropriations process. This provision has been included in past CRs.


Introduction Congressional oversight of the executive branch is a topic of perennial interest to many Members of Congress, their staff, and the public. Statutory reporting requirements can be useful in facilitating congressional oversight by enhancing congressional access to information about the implementation of public policy. Each year, Congress enacts a variety of requirements for the President, executive departments, agencies, and other federal government entities to provide advance notification of actions and decisions, to create plans and strategies to carry out certain activities, to summarize steps taken toward implementation of particular policies, or to study problems and issue recommendations. Reporting requirements can be used to accomplish a range of different goals. When designing such requirements, policymakers face a number of choices that may affect the content, frequency, and other features of the information that Congress receives as a result. This report provides an overview of statutory reporting requirements used by Congress to obtain information from the executive branch; describes the goals that various types of reporting requirements may help achieve; and analyzes statutory requirements enacted during the 115 th Congress to identify common features of legislative language used to establish such requirements. Statutory Reporting Requirements and Congressional Oversight Congress relies in large part on information provided by the executive branch in order to conduct oversight. To that end, Congress frequently enacts statutory provisions that require executive agencies and other federal entities to provide Congress or its committees with specified information. The type and amount of information required by these provisions can vary substantially. Congress often requires federal entities to provide, among other things, notifications of actions or decisions, data and statistics related to particular topics, reports describing the results of studies or evaluations, detailed plans to implement particular policies, and recommendations for legislative actions. The volume of statutory reporting requirements has varied over time, and policymakers have periodically taken steps to assess and/or reduce the number of reporting requirements. Still, Congress requires various federal entities to submit thousands of reports, notices, studies, and other materials each year, and new requirements for both singular and recurring reports continue to be enacted. Statutory reporting requirements come in several common forms, and can serve a range of potentially overlapping purposes. These include ensuring compliance with legislative intent, gathering vital data and statistics, monitoring the implementation of public policy, evaluating the effectiveness of particular programs, assessing federal capacity to meet particular challenges, studying issues that are not well-understood, and obtaining recommendations for legislative or other action. Reporting Requirements: Types and Purposes Each year, Congress typically enacts a range of reporting requirements of varying types. Most requirements can be roughly divided into several categories: notifications of actions or decisions; descriptive reports that summarize actions taken or provide other factual information; plans to accomplish particular goals; and studies or evaluations relating to a specific problem or concern. Each category is discussed in additional detail below. Notification Requirements Many statutory provisions require that specified federal officials, typically Cabinet Secretaries or the heads of other federal entities, notify Congress either before or soon after taking some action. For instance, Congress may grant a Secretary the authority to take a particular action or waive a particular restriction, provided that the Secretary notifies Congress when utilizing such authority. In some instances, notification requirements specify additional information that must be submitted, such as justification supporting the relevant action. The National Defense Authorization Act for FY2019 ( P.L. 115-232 ), for example, provided the following notification requirement: (c) WAIVER.âThe Secretary of the Navy may waive the limitation under subsection (a) with respect to a naval vessel if the Secretary submits to the congressional defense committees notice in writing ofâ (1) the waiver of such limitation with respect to the vessel; (2) the date on which the period of overseas forward deployment of the vessel is expected to end; and (3) the factors used by the Secretary to determine that a longer period of deployment would promote the national defense or be in the public interest. This type of reporting requirement can help Congress supervise executive branch activities as they occur. Notification requirements may also help Congress monitor the use of a new grant of authority in order to ensure compliance with legislative intent. Additionally, notification requirements may provide legislators an opportunity to prevent or modify certain executive actions with which they disagree, or to consult with relevant officials before such action is carried out. Further, the requirement to keep Congress notified of ongoing developments may provide a disincentive for the executive branch to take actions that might prompt a legislative response. Descriptive Reports A broad category of reporting requirements might be labeled descriptive reports on executive branch activities. This category of reports largely consists of descriptions of agency activity and other factual information. Requirements for descriptive reports often direct officials to provide Congress with data and statistics, to summarize actions taken by an agency on a particular policy matter, or to list actions taken during a specified time frame. The scope of content that may be required in this category of reports is wide-ranging. Some common formulations include requirements for agencies to provide data and statistics pertaining to a particular program or policy issue; summaries of major agency activities or accomplishments during a specified time frame; descriptions of the operations or results of a particular program; recurring reports on how certain appropriated funds are used; summaries of steps taken to implement a set of recommendations; or reports describing instances in which a Secretary or other executive branch official utilized a particular grant of authority during a specified time frame. Plans Congress may require agencies to submit plans to achieve particular goals. Requirements in this category often require agencies to describe timelines for achieving goals, and to establish performance indicators that will be used to measure progress. Certain acts, such as the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) and the GPRA Modernization Act of 2010, have established requirements for multiple executive branch agencies to create and submit agency-wide strategic and performance plans on a recurring basis. In addition to agency-wide plans, Congress may enact provisions that require a particular agency to specify how it plans to accomplish specific goals, such as the establishment of a new program, or the implementation of new policies and procedures. For example, the Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2017 ( P.L. 115-48 ) included the following provision, requiring the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to outline plans to make changes and improvements to a particular information technology system: (a) PROCESSING OF CERTAIN EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE CLAIMS.âThe Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall, to the maximum extent possible, make such changes and improvements to the information technology system of the Veterans Benefits Administration of the Department of Veterans Affairs to ensure thatâ (1) to the maximum extent possible, all original and supplemental claims for educational assistance under chapter 33 of title 38, United States Code, are adjudicated electronically; and (2) rules-based processing is used to make decisions with respect to such claims with little human intervention. (b) IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.âNot later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall submit to Congress a plan to implement the changes and improvements described in subsection (a). Reporting provisions of this sort might also be accompanied by requirements for regular status updates on how such a plan is being carried out. Agencies also may be required to submit plans that describe how funds appropriated for a particular purpose are to be spent, potentially as a precondition for the expenditure of such funds. For instance, a provision of the Consolidated Appropriations Act for FY2017 ( P.L. 115-31 ) required the Secretary of State to report to the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations prior to obligating certain funds: (3) PRE-OBLIGATION REQUIREMENTS.âPrior to the obligation of funds made available pursuant to paragraph (2) and following the submission of the Strategy as required in paragraph (1), the Secretary of State shall submit to the Committees on Appropriations a multi-year spend plan as described under this section in the explanatory statement described in section 4 (in the matter preceding division A of this Consolidated Act), including a description of how such funds shall prioritize addressing the key factors in countries in Central America that contribute to the migration of undocumented Central Americans to the United States. Requiring an agency to submit a plan to achieve a particular goal can force attention to matters of interest to Congress that an agency might otherwise choose to deprioritize. Further, plans that establish timelines and performance metrics can help policymakers more systematically measure and assess agency progress. Studies and Evaluations Congress often asks departments, agencies, and other federal entities to study a problem or emerging issue, evaluate government performance in a particular area, or perform some other analytical task. These provisions often include a requirement that the reporting entity issue recommendations for legislative or other actions to address particular concerns. Unlike descriptive reporting requirements, this category of requirements tends to address forward-looking concerns that may not be well or fully understood. Studies and evaluations required by Congress may serve to highlight issues and call attention to problems; to obtain expertise concerning issues that are technical or complex; to assess government performance and capacity; and to obtain recommendations and inform legislative decisionmaking. The John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 ( P.L. 115-232 ), for example, established the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence, which was directed to "review advances in artificial intelligence, related machine learning developments, and associated technologies," and to submit recurring reports to Congress and the President on the commission's findings and recommendations. Other reporting requirements direct agencies to conduct an evaluation of a program or policy. For example, The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Reauthorization Act of 2018 ( P.L. 115-254 ) directed the Secretary of Transportation to establish an advisory panel "to review and evaluate the effectiveness of the FAA's personnel management system and performance management program"; to develop a series of recommendations based on the results of the review; and to report its findings to the Secretary, the FAA Administrator, and the appropriate committees of Congress. In addition, Congress also enacts provisions that require the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to conduct studies and evaluations. GAO is a legislative branch agency that performs audits, evaluations, investigations, and other services that support Congress in its oversight role. GAO prepares reports, testimonies, and other products in response to requirements established in statute, contained in committee or conference reports, and in response to requests from committees and individual Members. Potential Benefits and Challenges of Reporting Requirements Potential Benefits As discussed above, reporting requirements may be designed to serve several, potentially overlapping, purposes. These purposes include supervising executive activity, ensuring compliance with legislative intent, focusing agency attention on matters of importance to Congress, gathering factual information, assessing the effectiveness of programs and policies, and obtaining better understanding of complex or emerging issues. Reports on studies and evaluations may also help originate new legislative proposals and better inform legislative decisionmaking. Agency reviews of policies and procedures might provide useful information to Congress regarding potentially outdated or otherwise incompatible provisions of law that might need reconsideration. The addition of reporting requirements might serve as a compromise position for legislators in certain circumstances. For example, Members may disagree on whether to provide the Executive with a certain grant of authority. Granting the authority, provided that the Executive reports to Congress on its use, might serve as a middle ground in such a scenario. Potential Drawbacks and Other Challenges Some observers have criticized the reporting burden that Congress places on the executive branch as excessive and costly. Although various entities have periodically attempted to estimate the financial cost of certain reporting requirements, efforts to estimate the total cost of reporting requirements are complicated by, among many factors, the lack of a comprehensive inventory of required reports. Nonetheless, preparing and submitting reports to Congress requires expenditure of agency resourcesâincluding time, money, and personnel. Ensuring the ongoing relevance of existing reporting requirements is another concern. Many statutory reporting requirements instruct that a report shall be submitted on a recurring basis, often without any sunset provision. Elimination or consolidation of reports that are considered to be duplicative, outdated, ineffective, or excessively costly has been a long-standing challenge for policymakers, and several attempts have been made to address the issue. Again, because no comprehensive inventory of reporting requirements currently exists, assessing the usefulness of existing requirements and deciding whether a contemplated new requirement is duplicative of existing requirements both pose challenges for Congress. Agency compliance with reporting requirements poses another difficulty. Due to a variety of factors, including vagueness in some statutory deadlines, and the lack of a complete inventory of reporting requirements and actual submissions, assessing whether required reports have been submitted (and whether the submission was timely) can be difficult. Moreover, the content of reports submitted to Congress may sometimes fall short of statutory requirements or congressional expectations. Designing Reporting Requirements: Considerations for Congress Although statutory reporting requirements vary widely in the scope and nature of the information they are designed to elicit, most requirements carry several common provisions. When designing these requirements, Congress faces a number of choices that may affect the content, frequency, and other features of the information ultimately received. To better understand various options and legislative considerations for creating reporting requirements, this report analyzes requirements enacted during the 115 th Congress that could be identified using a keyword search. Identifying Statutory Reporting Requirements Enacted in the 115th Congress Challenges in Identifying Reporting Requirements CRS is unaware of a search method that can obtain an exact accounting of all reports required to be submitted to Congress. Perhaps the best-known compendium of statutory reporting requirements is Reports to be Made to Congress , a document published annually by the Clerk of the House pursuant to clause 2(b) of House Rule II. This document provides an extensive listing of reporting requirements and is sometimes used by analysts attempting to quantify the reporting burden placed by Congress on the executive branch. Although the information provided in the Clerk's report is valuable and extensive, it may not provide a complete accounting of statutory reporting requirements. Reports to Congress might arise from several sources. These include statutory reporting requirements; House, Senate, and conference committee report language; and interactions between Members of Congress and agency officials. The diversity of sources of reporting requirements means that any accounting of requirements based on a single source (such as public laws) will necessarily be incomplete. Congress utilizes reporting requirements to obtain a wide array of information through a variety of different products. Accordingly, variation in the legislative language used to refer to reports and their contentsâas well as recipients of such reportsâposes additional challenges in comprehensively identifying reporting requirements. For instance, Congress may require agencies to conduct and submit information regarding a review, evaluation, assessment, plan, strategy, analysis, or study; it may ask for a report, list, summary, briefing, notification, certification, or some other product; and agencies might be directed to submit this product to Congress, to committees of Congress, or to specified individuals (such as the Speaker of the House, the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, or the chairperson and ranking member of relevant committees). Search Method To identify statutory reporting requirements created during the 115 th Congress, CRS searched the text of public laws enacted in the 115 th Congress for a variety of terms related to reports, and a variety of terms related to Congress. Each search result was examined to determine whether the language required a federal official, agency, or other entity to submit specified information to Congress, congressional committees, or congressional leaders. This search process resulted in the identification and analysis of over 3,000 reporting requirements enacted in statute during the 115 th Congress. Limitations Although the described search method identified many reporting requirements, the results identified should not be considered a complete accounting of the reporting requirements placed on agencies during the 115 th Congress, and may not be representative of all reporting requirements. These limitations include the following: The diversity in statutory language used to establish reporting requirements makes it unlikely that any single keyword search will capture all of them. Some legislative provisions require that agencies produce a report, but do not specify a congressional recipientârequiring instead, for instance, that the agency make a copy of such report publicly available on its website. Because this search used the proximity between words related to reports and words related to Congress in order to identify reporting requirements, any requirements that did not specify a congressional recipient are not included. Agency reports to Congress may originate from statutory provisions, committee report language, and other sources. Because this search was conducted exclusively within the text of public laws, any reporting requirements contained in other sources will necessarily be excluded. Reporting requirements identified for this report are only those statutory requirements enacted during the 115 th Congress. Therefore, any patterns gleaned from these data may not be generalizable to requirements enacted in other years. Identified Reporting Requirements Enacted During the 115th Congress: Overview The search process outlined above identified 3,359 reporting requirements enacted during the 115 th Congress. Several laws contained the bulk of the 3,359 identified requirements. In particular, four actsâthe Consolidated Appropriations Acts for FY2017 and FY2018, as well as National Defense Authorization Acts for FY2018 and FY2019 âtogether contain more than half of all identified requirements. Reporting requirements identified in appropriations measures generally differ from those identified in other measures. For instance, identified notification requirements were more common in appropriations acts than in other acts, which generally contained a greater number of provisions requiring agencies to submit other types of reports to Congress (descriptive reports, plans, and studies and evaluations). Appropriations measures enacted in the 115 th Congress contained numerous requirements for agencies and officials to notify Congress before (or soon after) the obligation, transfer, or reprogramming of certain funds. The permanence of reporting provisions constitutes another difference between appropriations and nonappropriations measures. Reporting requirements contained in appropriations acts generally expire at the end of the relevant fiscal year. Still, some requirements contained in appropriations acts reappear in subsequent appropriations bills, effectively making them recurring provisions. Specific Components of Statutory Reporting Provisions Analysis of reporting provisions enacted in the 115 th Congress identified several components common to statutory reporting requirements. Most reporting provisions specify the information that must be contained in the report; the identity of the official or agency responsible for submission; the recipient of the report; the deadline by which the report must be submitted; and whether the requirement is for a one-time or recurring report. Depending on the type of reporting requirement, the reporting provision may also include language detailing whether the information reported to Congress must also be made publicly available, and how any potentially classified material contained in the report ought to be handled. Contents Every identified reporting requirement specifies some information that must be submitted to Congress. Analysis of these reporting provisions uncovered a wide range in the nature, type, and specificity of content required. As already mentioned, reporting provisions require many different products to be submitted to Congress, such as notifications, certifications, plans, summary reports, studies, assessments, and evaluations, among many others. Instructions regarding the information required to be submitted ranged from general to highly specific. For instance, some reporting provisions direct agencies to produce a "status update," or a "quarterly report" on a particular topic, without detailing specific matters that must be analyzed or included in such reports. Other reporting provisions detail in length the components and subcomponents that an agency must include in its report to Congress. Greater specificity in the required contents of a report may help ensure agency attention to matters of congressional interest. However, adding additional components to a requirement may place greater burdens on the responsible agency. Although requirements for written reports are most common, Congress also periodically directs agencies to share information in other ways, including through briefings and testimony. For instance, the Save Our Seas Act of 2018 ( P.L. 115-265 ) provided the following: (a) IN GENERAL.âNot later than December 19 of 2018, and of each of the 2 subsequent years thereafter, the Commandant shall provide to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives a briefing on the status of implementation of each action outlined in the Commandant's final action memo dated December 19, 2017, regarding the sinking and loss of the vessel El Faro. Official or Agency Responsible for Submission Reporting requirements typically specify one or more federal officials responsible for submitting a report to Congress. Among the reporting requirements CRS identified, Cabinet Secretaries were most commonly directed to submit reports, though in many cases, the heads of other federal entities and subentities (officials with the titles Under Secretary, Deputy Secretary, Assistant Secretary, Director, Administrator, and Chief, among others) were also specified. In a smaller number of cases, no specific official was identified, but instead an agency or other entity (such as a federal commission, task force, board, or some other group) was made responsible for submission. Some reporting requirements direct multiple federal agencies to participate in creating and submitting a report. A common formulation is to direct that a report be prepared and submitted by an official, "jointly," "in consultation," or "in coordination" with one or more officials from other agencies. For example, the National Defense Authorization Act for FY2018 ( P.L. 1 15-91 ) directed that the Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the Secretary of State, shall submit to the congressional defense committees, the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate, and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives a report that contains a strategy to prioritize United States defense interests in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region. Some requirements may also direct federal officials to work with nonfederal entities in the creation of reports. These provisions might be used in cases where Congress desires agency consultation with outside experts on complex issues, or collaboration with other relevant stakeholders. For example, the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 ( P.L. 115-25 ) directs the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere to "assess the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration system for issuing watches and warnings regarding hazardous weather and water events," and specifies the following: (4) Consultation.âIn conducting the assessment required by paragraph (1)(A), the Under Secretary shallâ (A) consult with such line offices within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as the Under Secretary considers relevant, including the National Ocean Service, the National Weather Service, and the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research; (B) consult with individuals in the academic sector, including individuals in the field of social and behavioral sciences, and other weather services; (C) consult with media outlets that will be distributing the watches and warnings; (D) consult with non-Federal forecasters that produce alternate severe weather risk communication products; (E) consult with emergency planners and responders, including State and local emergency management agencies, and other government users of the watches and warnings system, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Office of Personnel Management, the Coast Guard, and such other Federal agencies as the Under Secretary determines rely on watches and warnings for operational decisions; and (F) make use of the services of the National Academy of Sciences, as the Under Secretary considers necessary and practicable, including contracting with the National Research Council to review the scientific and technical soundness of the assessment required by paragraph (1)(A), including the recommendations developed under paragraph (2)(B). Recipient of Report Among identified requirements, statutory language identifying the recipients of reports varies substantially. Report recipients specified in statute include Congress as a whole, specific congressional committees, committee chairs and ranking members, congressional leaders, executive branch officials, and a combination of several of the above. Most identified reporting requirements direct that the report or notification in question be submitted to one or more standing committees of Congress, or to the chairs and ranking members thereof. Often, a report is directed to be submitted to a single pair of committees (e.g., both the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations), but some statutes designate multiple committees in each chamber as recipients of the report. The second-most-common category of reporting requirements are those that specify Congress as the recipient, without identifying any particular committee. Reports submitted to Congress as a whole, and received by the Speaker of the House or the presiding officer in the Senate, are generally referred to the committee of jurisdiction in each chamber. The decision to specify Congress, a single pair of House and Senate committees, or several committees in each chamber may have consequences for dissemination of relevant information. Although some reports may contain information of value to multiple committees, reports submitted to Congress as a whole are generally referred to a single relevant committee in each chamber. Accordingly, directing that a report be submitted to Congress may not always guarantee that the report reaches all interested congressional audiences. Some requirements direct that reports be submitted to the President, agency officials, or other recipients, in addition to Congress or its committees. For instance, some statutes establish independent panels that conduct studies and report their recommendations to both Congress and the President, particularly in cases where the panel may produce recommendations for both legislative and administrative action. Several identified requirements direct an agency to submit a report to both Congress and the Comptroller General, and require the Comptroller General to subsequently assess the contents of such report and submit findings and/or recommendations to Congress. Inclusion of such provisions may help Congress obtain an outside perspective on the matter in question, assess the quality of plans or recommendations issued by agencies, and help ensure that the report produced by the agency in question meets the standards laid out in statute. For instance, the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018 ( P.L. 115-254 ) included the following provision: (a) STRATEGY.âNot later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees and the Comptroller General of the United States a strategy to guide operations of surface transportation security inspectors that addresses the following: (1) Any limitations in data systems for such inspectors, as identified by the Comptroller General. (2) Alignment of operations with risk assessment findings, including an approach to identifying and prioritizing entities and locations for inspections. (3) Measurable objectives for the surface transportation security inspectors program. (b) GAO REVIEW.âNot later than 180 days after the date the strategy under subsection (a) is submitted, the Comptroller General of the United States shall review such strategy and, as appropriate, issue recommendations. Deadlines Nearly all identified reporting requirements contain some deadline by which the specified information must be submitted. In some cases, a calendar date is provided. More oftenâparticularly in the case of notification requirementsâthe deadline is fixed to the occurrence of a specified event. For example, reports may be required to be submitted to Congress within a certain amount of time following enactment of legislation containing the requirement; a specified action taken by an agency or official (such as the waiver of a requirement, the completion of a review, or a determination that certain conditions have been met); submission of the President's budget request to Congress; termination of a program; and the end of a fiscal year or quarter. Calendar Date Deadline Versus Deadline Tied to a Specified Event The decision to require a report by a certain calendar date, or instead by some amount of time following a specified event, can involve trade-offs between a report's timeliness and the quality of the information received. For instance, setting a calendar-date deadline for submission of a report may help ensure that relevant information is submitted to Congress in a timely and predictable manner. However, any delay in the actual enactment of such a requirement would have the practical effect of reducing the amount of time available to the agency to produce the report. Instead, fixing the deadline to an eventâfor instance, by instructing that the report be submitted within 180 days of enactment (or some other time frame)âwould provide the agency with the same amount of time to complete the report, regardless of when the requirement is enacted. This may help ensure that an agency has sufficient time to produce a report that addresses congressional concerns. On the other hand, tying the deadline to an event rather than establishing a calendar-date deadline may delay the actual submission date of the report in question. Additionally, it may be more difficult for legislators and staff to oversee compliance with complex deadlines. Some report deadlines are tied to events that are less easily observed than the enactment of legislation or the submission of the President's budget request. For instance, reports and notifications may be required to be submitted within some period of time following (or in advance of) a specific action taken by an agency official, such as waiving a requirement, awarding a contract, or certifying that certain conditions have been met. In such cases, knowing when to expect a report to be delivered and assessing agency compliance with statutory requirements may be challenging. No Fixed Deadline Occasionally, reporting requirements do not specify a deadline for submission. Instead, these provisions may provide some other incentive for agencies to submit the informationâoften by making funds available for a particular purpose, or permitting some other action only after the report is submitted. For example, the National Defense Authorization Act for FY2018 ( P.L. 115-91 ) limited the availability of funds authorized to be appropriated for the upgrade of certain vehicles, until the Secretary of the Army submitted specified information: (a) LIMITATION.âOf the funds authorized to be appropriated by this Act or otherwise made available for fiscal year 2018 for the upgrade of M113 vehicles of the Army, not more than 50 percent may be obligated or expended until the date on which [the] Secretary of the Army submits to the congressional defense committees the report described in subsection (b). (b) REPORT.âThe report described in this subsection is a report setting forth the strategy of the Army for the upgrade of M113 vehicles that includes the following: (1) A detailed strategy for upgrading and fielding M113 vehicles. (2) An analysis of the manner in which the Army plans to address M113 vehicle survivability and maneuverability concerns. (3) An analysis of the historical costs associated with upgrading M113 vehicles, and a validation of current cost estimates for upgrading such vehicles. (4) A comparison ofâ (A) the total procurement and life cycle costs of adding an echelon above brigade requirement to the Army MultiPurpose Vehicle; and (B) the total procurement and life cycle costs of upgrading legacy M113 vehicles. (5) An analysis of the possibility of further accelerating Army Multi-Purpose Vehicle production or modifying the fielding strategy for the Army Multi-Purpose Vehicle to meet near-term echelon above brigade requirements. Frequency of Reports Some reports to Congress are designed to be submitted once, whereas others are to be submitted on a periodic basis. Whether a reporting requirement is one-time or reoccurring may depend on the type of requirement and the nature of the information being reported. One-Time Reports Many statutes provide for one-time, nonrecurring reports to Congress. Often, these reports are designed to address a particular problem or concern. Studies and evaluations, for instance, are commonly one-time reports. One-time reports constituted the single largest category of identified reporting requirements enacted in the 115 th Congress. Regularly Recurring Reports Reports are also commonly required to be submitted at regular intervals. Recurring reports to Congress might include, among other things, periodic status updates on the implementation of a particular policy, annual summaries of agency activity and accomplishments, regularly reported data and statistics related to a particular program or policy issue, and quarterly reports on how certain funds are obligated and expended. Among identified regularly recurring reporting requirements, annual and quarterly reporting intervals were the most common, though intervals ranged from as short as every month to as long as every five years. Requiring reports on a frequent basis may help Congress maintain close supervision of executive activity; on the other hand, frequent reports may increase the burden placed on agency resources. A number of identified recurring requirements contain a sunset date for the recurring reporting provision. For example, the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act ( P.L. 115-271 ) included the following recurring reporting requirement: (3) ADDITIONAL REPORTS.âNot later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter until the date that is 5 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall submit to Congress a report providing, for the previous yearâ (A) the number of reports of suspicious orders; (B) a summary of actions taken in response to reports, in the aggregate, of suspicious orders; and (C) a description of the information shared with States based on reports of suspicious orders. In the long term, automatic expiration of recurring reporting requirements may reduce the reporting burden placed on agencies, and help legislators and staff avoid the task of searching for and identifying outdated or duplicative requirements. Reports Required Under Specified Circumstances In contrast to requirements for one-time reports and reports provided at fixed intervals, some provisions mandate the submission of a report to Congress only under particular circumstances. Many such provisions, for instance, direct an agency official to report to Congress each time a certain action is taken. Depending on how often the circumstances arise, an individual requirement of this type may give rise to the possibility of zero, one, or multiple actual reports to Congress. For instance, the Veterans Appeals Improvement and Modernization Act of 2017 ( P.L. 115-55 ) directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to report to Congress "whenever" the Secretary makes a certain determination: (a) AUTHORIZATION.â (1) IN GENERAL.âThe Secretary of Veterans Affairs may carry out such programs as the Secretary considers appropriate to test any assumptions relied upon in developing the comprehensive plan required by section 3(a) and to test the feasibility and advisability of any facet of the new appeals system. (2) REPORTING REQUIRED.âWhenever the Secretary determines, based on the conduct of a program under paragraph (1), that legislative changes to the new appeals system are necessary, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the House of Representatives notice of such determination. Requirements for agencies to notify Congress of actions or decisions commonly fall into this category. Examples include, among many others, provisions that require congressional notification prior to (or soon after) the obligation, transfer, or reprogramming of funds; awarding a certain type of contract; waiving sanctions; waiving a specified limitation; or utilizing some grant of authority. For example, the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 ( P.L. 115-334 ) provided that [t]he Secretary shall not close any field office of the Natural Resources Conservation Service unless, not later than 30 days before the date of the closure, the Secretary submits to the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate a notification of the closure. As previously discussed, in addition to helping Congress monitor agency activity on a close-to-real-time basis, this type of requirement may provide an opportunity to consult with executive branch officials about a contemplated action, or to take steps to modify, prevent, or reverse the action in cases of disagreement. Other Components Actions Permitted Following Submission of Report As noted above, some statutes create requirements for reports and notifications that, upon or after submission, clear the way for some exercise of authority or permit some other action by executive branch officials. For instance, Congress may provide executive branch officials with the discretion to waive certain requirements, provided that the official provides Congress with justification for the decision. The Countering America's Adversaries through Sanctions Act, for example, includes a number of provisions that permit the President to waive or terminate particular sanctions, contingent upon the submission of specified information to Congress. Other statutes place limitations on how certain funds may be obligated, contracts may be awarded, or other authorities may be used, until a particular report is submitted. Public Release Requiring that a report be made publicly available may enhance access to and awareness of its contents, among both legislators and the general public. Certain reports to Congress are made public by defaultâfor instance, all unclassified GAO reports are made publicly available on the agency website. However, other agencies submitting reports to Congress or its committees may not be required to be make such reports publicly available, absent some explicit instruction. Some reporting provisions do contain such instructions, often directing that a report be made available on an agency's public website. The Consolidated Appropriations Act for FY2018 included a blanket provision that gave agency officials discretion over whether to make certain reports public: (1) Requirement.âAny agency receiving funds made available by this Act shall, subject to paragraphs (2) and (3), post on the publicly available Web site of such agency any report required by this Act to be submitted to the Committees on Appropriations, upon a determination by the head of such agency that to do so is in the national interest. (2) Exceptions.âParagraph (1) shall not apply to a report ifâ (A) the public posting of such report would compromise national security, including the conduct of diplomacy; or (B) the report contains proprietary, privileged, or sensitive information. (3) Timing and Intention.âThe head of the agency posting such report shall, unless otherwise provided for in this Act, do so only after such report has been made available to the Committees on Appropriations for not less than 45 days: Provided , That any report required by this Act to be submitted to the Committees on Appropriations shall include information from the submitting agency on whether such report will be publicly posted. Classified Annex Some reports required to be submitted to Congress may contain national security classified material, which may restrict who may access the information, how an agency might provide it to Congress, and how it may be accessed. In such cases, reporting provisions may require submission of a nonclassified report, with a classified annex. Separating classified and nonclassified material may increase a given report's usefulness by facilitating policymakers' access to relevant nonclassified materials. Concluding Observations Reporting requirements can serve as a critical component of legislative oversight. They may be designed to accomplish a variety of purposes, including monitoring executive activity, obtaining information on complex or emerging issues, and generating ideas and recommendations for legislative action. However, legislators, agencies, and outside observers have periodically voiced concerns regarding the volume and cost of reporting requirements, whether certain requirements are duplicative and ineffective, and the difficulty in monitoring agency compliance with such requirements. Each concern noted above is complicated by the lack of a comprehensive inventory of existing report requirements and report submissions. Legislators have periodically introduced legislation to create a centralized repository of congressionally mandated reports. For example, the Access to Congressionally Mandated Reports Act ( H.R. 736 , 116 th Congress) would, among other things, require the Government Publishing Office (GPO) to create a publicly available online portal of "all congressionally mandated reports," subject to certain exceptions. The bill was passed by the House on July 7, 2019. Establishing a centralized, public repository for congressionally mandated reports may address a number of concerns related to the reporting process. For instance, a comprehensive database of submitted reports may allow Congress to more easily monitor whether an expected report has been submitted, and whether it was submitted in a timely fashion. Additionally, it may facilitate greater accessibility to and awareness of reports submitted to Congress. Greater awareness of reports that have already been submitted may in turn help Congress make better use of information provided by agencies, and also help determine whether contemplated requirements for new reports may be duplicative of existing reports. Lastly, a centralized database of submitted reports may help Congress better assess the reporting burden placed on federal agencies. On the other hand, creating a database of all submitted reports would not necessarily provide Congress with a complete picture of reporting requirements . Reports that are required, but are not submitted, would not appear in a repository of submitted reports, potentially limiting its use as a tool for monitoring agency compliance. For reasons already discussed, obtaining a complete inventory of existing requirements would be a complicated and potentially resource-intensive task. Additionally, the establishment of any centralized repository would require ongoing maintenance and other resources as new requirements are established and new reports are submitted. However, an incomplete understanding of the full range of existing requirements may make it difficult or impossible to determine the total volume of reports required, to attempt to identify and eliminate outdated requirements, to assess agency compliance, or to determine whether a contemplated new reporting requirement is duplicative of existing requirements.