Nixon Signs Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act Creating Reconciliation Process

President Nixon signed the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act into law, creating the modern federal budget process including the reconciliation procedure, the Congressional Budget Office, and the House and Senate Budget Committees. The law was a direct response to Nixon's impoundment of congressionally appropriated funds, reasserting congressional power of the purse. The reconciliation process, first used in 1980, allowed Congress to fast-track spending and tax changes with a simple Senate majority.