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Appropriations Language Reference

Appropriation

A law that provides obligational authority to a department or agency.

Appropriations are the most common form of budget authority. The Constitution prohibits the withdrawal of money from the Treasury unless authorized in the form of an appropriation enacted by Congress. Thus, funds paid out of the United States Treasury must be accounted for by charging them to an appropriation provided by or derived from an act of Congress.

The term “appropriation” may be defined as: “An authorization by an act of Congress that permits Federal agencies to incur obligations and to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes.”

Authorization

A law permitting new or continued operation of federal programs and departments/agencies.

Nature of Appropriations Law

A federal agency is a creature of law and can function only to the extent authorized by law. The Supreme Court has expressed what is perhaps the quintessential axiom of “appropriations law” as follows:

“The established rule is that the expenditure of public funds is proper only when authorized by Congress, not that public funds may be expended unless prohibited by Congress.

The Congressional “Power of the Purse”

The congressional “power of the purse” refers to the power of Congress to appropriate funds and to prescribe the conditions governing the use of those funds. The power derives from specific provisions of the Constitution of the United States. First, Article I, section 8 empowers the Congress to “pay the Debts and provide for the common Defense and general Welfare of the United States,” and to –

“Make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers (listed in Art. I, section 8), and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.

Budget Authority

Congress finances federal programs and activities by providing “budget authority.” Budget authority is a general term referring to various forms of authority provided by law to enter into obligations which will result in immediate or future outlays of government funds. The statutory definition, effective beginning with fiscal year 1992, is:

“The term ‘budget authority’ means the authority provided by Federal law to incur financial obligations.

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