One of the responsibilities of the members of this committee is to approve appropriations, and we can also request that they be reduced.
Is it possible that departments are not submitting departmental reports on time so that we can't reduce their appropriations, given that they haven't used them all in the past? We could find that a particular department does not need new appropriations and should use its lapsed funding.
Could this be a more or less unconscious tactic to divert the committee from its duties and responsibilities?