The appropriations process in Congress has undergone significant change in the past twelve years. The Republican era, especially in the House of Representatives, transformed the politics of appropriations from its traditional bipartisanship to a far more partisan, even rancorous politics than was depicted by Richard F. Fenno in his classic study of the appropriations committees in the 1950s and 1960s, The Power of the Purse. Fenno found a highly unified House Appropriations Committee in which partisanship was played down in favor of intracommittee integration, expertise, professionalism, and compromise; the shared policy goal was guardianship of the Treasury.

This relatively peaceful state of affairs was not to last forever; indeed, it began to slip within a few years. Both the congressional budget process instituted in 1974 and the growing polarization of the congressional parties contributed to the shift. Not surprisingly, scholars found an increase in partisanship on both the House and Senate appropriations committees in the post-reform era. Nevertheless, the House Appropriations Committee in particular continued to exhibit a degree of bipartisanship and independence unusual on the Hill in the 1980s.