Summary

This responds to a Congressional request that GAO transmits to Congress an updated package of our statistical data concerning rescissions proposed and enacted since the passage of the Impoundment Control Act of 1974. In response to your letter, we have updated our statistics regarding proposed and enacted rescissions through fiscal year 2008. Under the Impoundment Control Act, whenever the President proposes discretionary budget authority for rescission, he must transmit a special message to Congress detailing the amounts, reasons for, and effect of the proposed rescission. Agencies may withhold from obligation budget authority proposed for rescission in a special message for up to 45 legislative days following submission of the special message. 2 U.S.C. 683(b). If Congress does not pass rescission legislation within the 45-day period, the budget authority must be released. The Impoundment Control Act provides a mechanism through which Congress may fast-track a vote on a special message.