The United States House Committee on Appropriations is a committee of the United States House of Representatives that is responsible for passing appropriation bills along with its Senate counterpart.

[1] The bills passed by the Appropriations Committee regulate expenditures of money by the government of the United States.

Originally, the power of appropriating was taken by the Committee on Ways and Means, but the United States Civil War placed a large burden on the Congress, and at the end of that conflict, a reorganization occurred.

At the time of creation the membership of the committee stood at nine; it currently has 61 members.

[2] The power of the committee has only grown since its founding; many of its members and chairmen have gone on to even higher posts.

Four of them—Samuel Randall (D-PA), Joseph Cannon (R-IL), Joseph Byrns (D-TN) and Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)—have gone on to become the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives; one, James Garfield, has gone on to become President of the United States.

Harding was the first president of the United States to deliver a budget proposal to Congress.

In May 1945, when U.S. Representative Albert J. Engel queried extra funds for the Manhattan Project, the administration approved a visit to the Clinton Engineer Works at Oak Ridge (CEW) (and one to HEW if desired) by selected legislators, including Engel, Mahon, Snyder, John Taber and Clarence Cannon (the committee chairman).

President Richard Nixon began "impounding" funds, not allowing them to be spent, even when Congress had specifically appropriated money for a cause.

Numerous court cases were filed by outraged interest groups and members of Congress.

Its subcommittee chairs are often called "Cardinals", likening them to the most senior members of the Catholic Church, because of the power they wield over the budget.

This atmosphere can be attributed to the fact that all committee members have a compelling interest in ensuring legislation will contain money for their own districts.

[6] The new structure added the Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government, and transferred jurisdiction over Legislative Branch appropriations from the full committee to a newly reinstated Legislative Branch Subcommittee, which had not existed since the 108th Congress.