► Each February, the President submits to Congress a budget proposing spending for the next fiscal year (beginning October 1). Only Congress may fund government agencies and programs. (Article I, Section 9, Clause 7, U.S. Constitution)

► The House and Senate may approve or modify the President’s budget, or create their own (called a “Budget Resolution”).

• See the non-partisan Congressional Research Service’s explanation of the federal budget process.

► Before the House or Senate can consider a Budget Resolution, the House Budget Committee and the Senate Budget Committee  must either modify the President’s proposed budget and/or develop their own legislation.

► The Budget Committees recommend the funding levels to be given to the Appropriations Committees in the House and Senate, which allocate funds to their various subcommittees. The appropriations subcommittees determine the level of funding to be provided to the Federal Departments and Agencies under their jurisdiction.

► The Appropriations Subcommittees on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies in the Senate and House set the level of funding to be provided to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The Federal Department that funds the NIH is the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

	See a pie chart showing the President’s FY 2009 budget for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies
	See a pie chart showing the showing the President’s FY 2009 budget for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
	See a pie chart showing the President's FY2009 budget for HHS discretionary programs, including the National Institutes of Health (NIH)
	See a Summary of the President’s FY 2009 Budget Request for NIH