Each year, Congress decides how much to spend on (most) government programs for the next year.

This year, the process has been nothing short of chaos as extreme Republicans in both chambers attempt to steal money from programs our communities rely on to give tax breaks to their billionaire buddies, open public lands and waters to dirty oil and gas drilling, and rip up sensitive wild areas to build an ineffective, racist border wall. Critical programs that could be cut include:

Right now, Congress is trying to pass a budget before the current government funding deadline on March 14th. If they can’t come to an agreement, the government could shut down, disrupting programs and services people rely on across the country.

Understanding what’s going on in the federal budgeting and funding process is hard enough. Throw in the wonky, insider-y jargon being used to talk about it, and it’s next to impossible. To help break down some of the more confusing terms being tossed around in the media and on Capitol Hill as Congress scrambles to fund the government before time runs out, we put together this list of budget-related policy terms you should know. 

Appropriations

The process of funding government programs, departments, and agencies through a series of 12 bills each year. If Congress fails to pass these bills or a continuing resolution, or the president vetoes the bills passed by Congress, the government will shut down until legislators pass a bill to fund it.

Omnibus and Minibus

Congress rarely votes on the 12 appropriations bills individually – instead, they are packaged together and voted on in groups. When all 12 bills are voted on at once, the package is called an “omnibus.” When the 12 bills are divided up into smaller packages of multiple appropriations bills, “minibus” is the slang term for each of those packages.

Continuing Resolution (CR)

If Congress fails to pass all 12 appropriations bills by the beginning of the fiscal year, they can extend the deadline by passing a continuing resolution (CR). A CR generally maintains funding for government programs at the current levels until an agreed upon date, which is set in the CR. Failure to pass all 12 appropriations bills or another CR before the deadline would result in a government shutdown.

Government shutdown

If Congress is unable to pass all 12 appropriations bills or a continuing resolution before the existing government funding expires, the government must shut down until legislators and the president can come to an agreement to fund it. Federal government employees who are considered essential, such as air traffic controllers, are still required to report to work but don’t receive pay until the shutdown ends. A government shutdown puts services people rely upon, like clean air and water monitoring, Social Security, Medicare, SNAP, WIC, Medicaid, Head Start, and more at risk of being abruptly delayed or halted.

Debt limit/debt ceiling

The total amount of money that the U.S. government can borrow to pay for expenses. As government spending exceeds revenue, Congress must periodically raise the debt ceiling to avoid defaulting – or missing payments – on bills due and existing loans. A default could cause a global economic catastrophe; if the U.S. failed to pay its debts, we could see market crashes, runs on banks, an inability to protect customers’ money, pauses on new loans, a long-lasting recession, and more.

Congressional Republicans routinely attempt to leverage debt ceiling deadlines to force the government to cut spending on programs that protect our environment and provide essential services to working families, even though these programs make up a relatively small percentage of the federal budget.

Budget resolution

Congress’ outline of top spending, debt, and revenue (e.g. tax) priorities. Budget resolutions are not laws – they need to be agreed to by both the House and the Senate, but do not need to be signed by the president. The passage of identical budget resolutions in both chambers is the first step in the reconciliation process.

Congress is supposed to pass a budget resolution every year as part of the annual budgeting process (above), but partisan disagreements over funding levels regularly prevent that from happening.

Reconciliation instructions

In years when Congress wants to pass budget reconciliation bills that include partisan priorities (typically when a party holds the trifecta of the presidency and both chambers of Congress) the House and Senate include what are called “reconciliation instructions” in the budget resolution. Reconciliation instructions direct congressional committees to write legislation that meets new revenue or spending goals and will be included in a reconciliation bill.

Budget reconciliation

The process Congress uses to set the amount of money it can spend on government programs and raise through various revenue streams based on the reconciliation instructions set in the budget resolution. Reconciliation is a two-step process: first, Congress must pass a budget resolution, then they can pass a reconciliation bill into law to align the federal government’s spending with the budget.

Reconciliation is not subject to the Senate filibuster, meaning budget resolutions and reconciliation bills can pass with just a simple majority (51 out of 100) as opposed to the three-fifths majority (60 out of 100) required to invoke cloture and end a filibuster. In theory, this would allow Republicans, who currently hold narrow majorities in the House and Senate, to pass a reconciliation bill without any Democratic support.

All policies included in reconciliation bills must primarily have a budgetary impact (Byrd Rule), severely limiting what types of legislation can pass through this filibuster-proof procedure.

Byrd Rule

Named for former U.S. Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV), a rule that says all policies in a reconciliation bill must be primarily budget-related in order to prevent non-budgetary policy riders from being included. The Senate parliamentarian, a non-partisan official, makes the final decisions about whether a policy complies with the Byrd rule.

Traditional filibuster

A Senate tool which allows for unlimited debate and is used to delay votes. A senator filibustering must speak on the floor continuously, however, if 41 senators work together, they can hold the floor indefinitely without having to talk or stay in the chamber. A filibuster only ends if the senator(s) holding the floor end the debate or the Senate invokes cloture and forces a vote. The threat of blocking cloture, which is needed to end the filibuster, is often enough to kill a piece of legislation before it comes to the floor without senators actually needing to carry out the filibuster.

Cloture (Modern filibuster)

A procedure used to end debate on all Senate business being filibustered (i.e. legislation, nominations, etc.) and bring it to a vote. It requires a three-fifths majority (60%) vote. In today’s hyperpartisan Senate, most votes are filibustered, so cloture must be invoked on the majority of Senate business. This means that most Senate business can be blocked by 41 senators, even if a majority supports it.

Budget resolutions, reconciliation bills, and nomination votes are exceptions to the three-fifths majority rule, and can pass with a simple majority (51%).

Vote-a-rama

A Senate procedure that allows senators to introduce and vote on unlimited, back-to-back amendments to a budget resolution or reconciliation bill. Vote-a-rama is an important tool for the minority party in the Senate because it allows senators to force votes on amendments, including amendments that the majority leader would not normally allow because they could be politically challenging for their party. Vote-a-ramas typically go on for many hours, often lasting all night long. Reconciliation bills must go through two vote-a-ramas: one to pass the budget resolution, and one to pass the final bill.

The government runs out of funding on March 14th. Instead of working to meet that deadline and avoid a disastrous government shutdown, Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and extreme Republicans in Congress have been sowing chaos, ignoring the Constitution, and attempting to pilfer lawfully appropriated funds from programs that help working families and protect our environment to justify their plan to cut taxes for the rich.

We need to call on Republicans to stand up to Trump and reject any cuts to environmental protections like clean air and water monitoring, low-income home energy assistance, Medicaid, and so much more.

Please, call your members of Congress and tell them to oppose the GOP’s extreme budget reconciliation bill and fight for the programs that benefit our communities and families, not just wealthy elites.