The overlap would begin to address the situation in which the appropriations committees handle intelligence as only one of many specialties.
The two senators, who run the appropriations subcommittee that handles foreign aid, could block further assistance to Yugoslavia, Mr. Leahy said.
Individual members of Congress, congressional leaders, or Congress itself might have better luck suing, by claiming their constitutional authority to handle appropriations was violated by the President's move.
The top single Senate recipient is Diane Feinstein (D-Cal)., who chairs the Intelligence Committee and the appropriations subcommittee that handles the Energy Department's nuclear weapons budget; she collected $74,500 in this election cycle and $421,747 over her 20-year career, according to the report.
According to SEC officials, Congressional appropriation leaders say they're committed to handling it before the election-year recess in August.
Ms. Lowey and Senator Patrick J. Leahy, the Vermont Democrat who is chairman of the Judiciary Committee and the Senate subcommittee that handles State Department appropriations, criticized the administration for not telling Congress about its plans.
A11 Congressman Resigns Post After two weeks of intense pressure, the leading Democrat on the House ethics committee, Alan B. Mollohan of West Virginia, stepped down over criticism of how he has handled earmarked appropriations and his own finances.
The legislation, if passed, would express the will of Congress toward NSF but would not actually provide the money to carry it out; that power rests with another set of committees that handle federal appropriations.
Appropriation is to be handled in measured fashion, this argument goes, but that is a tired narrative and a false one.
