	FY2016 Consideration: Overview of Actions

The first section of this report provides an overview of the consideration of FY2016 judiciary appropriations, with subsections covering each major action, including
the initial submission of the request on February 2, 2015; hearings held by the House and Senate Financial Services Subcommittees; the House subcommittee markup on June 10, 2015; the House Appropriations Committee markup on June 17, 2015; the Senate subcommittee markup on July 22, 2015; the Senate Appropriations Committee markup on July 23, 2015; and the continuing resolutions and the enactment of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016, on December 18, 2015. By law, the judicial branch request is submitted to the President and included in the budget submission without change. 2995 , H.Rept. Judicial branch activities were funded through continuing appropriations resolutions ( P.L. 114-53 , P.L. 114-96 , and P.L. 114-100 ) until the enactment of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016 ( P.L. Division E of this act provides $7.3 billion for the judiciary, an increase of $73.9 million (1.0%) from FY2015 and $184.1 million (-2.5%) less than the request. Funding in Recent Years: Brief Overview

		FY2015

FY2015 judiciary funding was provided in Division E, Title 3, of the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015 ( P.L. 113-235 ), which was enacted on December 16, 2014. The Judiciary Budget and Key Issues

Appropriations for the judiciary comprise approximately 0.2% of total budget authority. The remaining judiciary budget is divided among the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (0.5% of FY2016 enacted), U.S. Court of International Trade (0.3%), Fees of Jurors and Commissioners (0.6%), Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts (1.2%), Federal Judicial Center (0.4%), U.S. Sentencing Commission (0.2%), and Judicial Retirement Funds (1.8%). Three specialized courts within the federal court system are not funded under the judiciary budget: the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces (funded in the Department of Defense appropriations bill), the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (funded in the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies appropriations bill), and the U.S. Tax Court (funded under Independent Agencies, Title V, of the Financial Services and General Government [FSGG] bill). 114-113 .
Funds for the judicial branch are included annually in the Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) Appropriations bill. The bill provides funding for the Supreme Court; the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit; the U.S. Court of International Trade; the U.S. Courts of Appeals and District Courts; Defender Services; Court Security; Fees of Jurors and Commissioners; the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts; the Federal Judicial Center; the U.S. Sentencing Commission; and Judicial Retirement Funds.
The judiciary's FY2016 budget request of $7.533 billion was submitted on February 2, 2015. By law, the President includes the requests submitted by the judiciary in the annual budget submission without change.
The FY2016 budget request represents a 3.7% increase over the FY2015 enacted level of $7.261 billion provided in the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015 (P.L. 113-235, Division E, Title III, enacted December 16, 2014).
The House and Senate Appropriations Committees' Financial Services and General Government Subcommittees held hearings in February and March to consider the FY2016 judiciary request. Markups were held in the House (H.R. 2995) in June and in the Senate (S. 1910) in July.
No further action was taken on either bill, and judicial branch activities were funded through continuing appropriations resolutions (P.L. 114-53, P.L. 114-96, and P.L. 114-100) until the enactment of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016 (P.L. 114-113, enacted December 18, 2015). Division E of this act provides $7.3 billion for the judiciary, an increase of $73.9 million (1.0%) from FY2015 and $184.1 million (-2.5%) less than the request.
Appropriations for the judiciary comprise approximately 0.2% of total budget authority.