House Committee on Appropriations

The Committee on Appropriations is a standing Congressional committee of the United States House of Representatives. It is in charge of setting the specific expenditures of money by the government of the United States. As such, it is one of the most powerful of the committees, and its members are seen as influential.

Temporary replacement for John Doolittle
On May 11 2007, Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Calif.) has been temporarily appointed House Appropriations Committee to replace Rep. John Doolittle (R-Calif.).

On May 15 2007, Redstate.com and other bloggers in conjunction with the Club for Growth began a campaign to remove Ken Calvert (R-Calif.) from the appropriations committee, citing that "a corrupt party rejected by the voters will not be embraced again by the voters until the corruption is purged."

Chairman David Obey (D-Wis.) threatened to hold up war funding
On October 2, 2007 Chairman David Obey(D-Wis.) said that he would hold $190 billion in Iraq War funding hostage until President Bush acceded to demands for an exit strategy and proposed a $150 billion war surtax. The tax plan was stopped within hours by Democratic leaders including Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and House Ways and Means Chairman Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.) but the proposal to delay the war funding until 2008 was being seriously considered by Democratic leaders in Congress.

“The president isn’t going to get a supplemental this year,” said Obey. “The president soon or later is going to need that supplemental,” he said, adding that Bush would have to change course before Obey would let it move out of the committee. Obey put two other conditions on moving the war bill in addition to a January 2009 goal for ending combat operations: a plan to make sure that soldiers get adequate time off between deployments and demonstration that the administration would engage in a broad diplomatic offensive involving other Middle East countries. Obey later said that he was flexible on the particulars. “We want any kind of movement at this point from existing policy,” he said.

The proposed war surtax on income would have ranged from 2 to 15 percent of every American’s tax bill, raising about $150 billion a year to pay for the war. “If you don’t like the cost shut down the war,” said Obey. He added that “We need to stop pretending that this war doesn’t cost anything. House Majority leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said he did not want a supplemental to be a “blank check” but said that Obey’s plans were not yet those of the party. “We’re going to discuss Mr. Obey’s proposal. … There’s been no decision on that,” said Hoyer.

Chairman Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.) fires staff
On October 16, 2006, committee Chairman Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.) fired 60 investigators who had worked for the committee investigating fraud within the committee. One of the contractors, a former FBI agent, stated that the firings, "in fact stalled all of the investigations on the staff...in effect, no investigative function is going to be done.”

In a comment to Congressional Quarterly, Lewis spokesman John Scofield said the firings came because of a "bipartisan review" of the investigative unit. The review, he said, was supported by Rep. David Obey (D-WI), the ranking Democrat on the committee. An anonymous Democratic spokesman, however, claimed that Obey (or any other Democrat on the committee) was never consulted about the firings. 

At the time of the firings, Lewis was under federal investigation for using his position on the committee to increase both his political influence and personal wealth.


 * See more about the Lewis' investigation on Congresspedia's Members of Congress under investigation page.

Contact information
Committee Web site


 * Majority staff office - (202) 225-2771
 * Minority staff office - (202) 225-3481

External articles

 * Justin Rood, "CQ: Facing Fed Probe, House GOP Spending Chief Axes Investigative Staff," TPM Muckraker, October 19, 2006.
 * Justin Rood, "ThinkProgress: Lewis Firings Not "Bipartisan," As Spokesman Claimed," TPM Muckraker, October 20, 2006.

External resources

 * The dKosopedia page on the House Committee on Appropriations.