Many appropriations are available only for a specific period, often one fiscal year. If an agency does not obligate the money before the deadline, the authority to use it expires. The money then returns to the Treasury unless Congress extends availability or provides a new appropriation. Delaying apportionment until close to the deadline can make a funded program impossible to run even without openly canceling it.
Expiration turns delay into power. If an administration waits long enough, a program can lose its money without Congress ever voting to repeal it.
Expired appropriations are not simply late checks. Once budget authority expires, agencies usually cannot make new obligations from that money without fresh congressional action.
Expiration turns delay into power. If an administration waits long enough, a program can lose its money without Congress ever voting to repeal it.
Expired appropriations are not simply late checks. Once budget authority expires, agencies usually cannot make new obligations from that money without fresh congressional action.