The budget act. The rules cmte. The end of deliberation in the congress. About 40 years ago, each department had public hearings in the subcmte and full cmte of jurisdiction which wrote a report and passed an authorization bill, which could be amended by the full cmte of the house and then voted by the house in session. Only then did each authorization go to appropriation to determine the amount appropriated which could not exceed the amout authorized. And in the process, there was over sight so the punishment for an agency gone wrong was spending prohibitions or deletions.

Messy, tedious and sometimes late which meant a dept or agency shut down, not the whole gov.

The old way was better.