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June 16, 2020
Congress's Power Over Appropriations: A Primer
A number of constitutional and statutory provisions provide
Congress with perhaps its most important legislative tool:
the power to direct and control federal spending. This In
Focus summarizes relevant constitutional and statutory
provisions, and identifies recent developments related to
Congress's power over appropriations. For a more detailed
discussion of these issues, see CRS Report R46417,
Congress's Power Over Appropriations: Constitutional and
Statutory Provisions, by Sean M. Stiff.
Several constitutional provisions combine to provide
Congress its power of the purse. These include the
Spending Clause (Art. I, § 8, cl. 1), which empowers
Congress to raise revenue, pay debts, and provide for the
common Defence and general Welfare of the United
States. Courts defer substantially to Congress's decision of
what constitutes the general welfare. In addition, the
Appropriations Clause (Art. I, § 9, cl. 7) states that [n]o
Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in
Consequence of Appropriations made by Law. Congress
must authorize any expenditure of Treasury funds.
Congress's constitutional power over federal funds is
subject to three limitations.
First, the text or structure of the Constitution may limit
Congress's authority to appropriate funds in a manner that
would diminish the independence of the other branches of
the federal government. The Constitution constrains
Congress's authority to change the compensation of the
President or of federal justices or judges (Art. II, § 1, cl. 7
and Art. III, § 1). In United States v. Klein, 80 U.S. 128
(1872), the Supreme Court held that Congress could not
condition the availability of Treasury funds in a manner
that, if honored, would both nullify the effect of a pardon, a
power the Constitution vests exclusively in the President,
and infringe upon the powers of the federal courts.
Second, the Supreme Court has held that the federal system
of government established in the Constitution affects how
Congress may offer funds to the states. For example,
Congress may require a state to set its minimum drinking
age at 21 to receive federal highway funds. However, as the
Supreme Court explained in South Dakota v. Dole, 483
U.S. 203 (1987), and later cases, the conditions Congress
places on funds offered to states must be unambiguous and
relate to a federal interest in the program, and Congress
cannot threaten to withhold a sum of money so great that
the state is coerced into accepting Congress's conditions.
Third, the Constitution's protections for individual rights
may limit Congress's authority to appropriate funds. For
example, the Constitution prohibits Congress from passing
bills of attainder (Art. I, § 9, cl. 3). In United States v.
Lovett, 328 U.S. 303 (1946), the Supreme Court held that
an appropriations act provision prohibiting any agency from
paying the salaries of named federal employees amounted
to a bill of attainder and, thus, was unconstitutional.
An appropriation is authority provided by statute to
obligate and expend funds from the Treasury. An
appropriation is a type of budget authority, which is
authority for a federal officer or employee to enter binding
legal obligations on behalf of the United States. Congress
may provide budget authority in regular appropriations acts
(covering a fiscal year), continuing appropriations acts
(covering all or part of a fiscal year and generally
continuing the level of appropriations provided in a prior
appropriations act), supplemental appropriations acts
(providing more funds for a fiscal year), or other statutes.
An appropriations act consists of unnumbered paragraphs,
each corresponding to an appropriations account. An
appropriations act may also include numbered general
provisions that set conditions or limitations on the use of
appropriations. Congress grants appropriations in a specific
amount, for a specific time period and purpose, and subject
to conditions specified in the appropriations act or in other
law.
Congress implements its constitutional power of the purse
with several generally applicable fiscal control statutes.
These statutes govern the handling of federal funds
throughout their life cycle, from initial receipt by the
agency through obligation and expenditure.
During its operations, an agency may receive money from a
third party. For example, in administering a program, an
agency might collect a tax, duty, or fee. The Miscellaneous
Receipts Act (31 U.S.C. § 3302) requires officials who
receive money on the government's behalf to deposit the
money in the Treasury as soon as practicable without
deduction for any charge or claim. When the official
deposits the money in the Treasury, the Appropriations
Clause is triggered, meaning that the money may later be
withdrawn only with an Appropriation[] made by Law.
Thus, as a default rule, an agency may not fund its
operations using money the agency collects in the ordinary
course of its operations. Congress may provide an
exception to this default rule by specifying in statute that
funds the agency receives are available to the agency to pay
certain expenses.
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