Yes, to the best of my knowledge the limitations placed on use of funds are only for the funds being appropriated by the current bill. In fact amendments that do otherwise may be removed under procedural rules, but it also seems that if no one raises a point of order then it is not enforced.
I actually got curious and looked at a bunch of other amendments[0]. Another one that was agreed to was "An amendment to prohibit the use of funds by the Department of Justice in violation of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution; or to repeal the guidance provided in the memorandum issued by the Attorney General on March 31, 2015."[1] That makes me wonder what was in the referenced memorandum.
This one was withdrawn by unanimous consent; make of that what you will: "An amendment to prohibit use of funds to transfer cell site simulators, or IMSI Catcher, or similar cell phone tower mimicking technology to state and local law enforcement that haven't adopted procedures for the use of such technology that protects the constitutional rights of citizens."[2]
There were also a whole bunch of amendments that had this form: "An amendment to reduce and then increase funding for NOAA Operations, Research, and Facilities by $70 million."[3] That one passed but there were at least seven others failed or withdrawn (both before and after this one) which were identical in all but the cash amount, and a few more for agencies other than NOAA. Does anyone know what the point of these amendments are?
