Federal Budget: Authorization and Appropriation Information for Selected Agencies
Fast Facts
We were asked to provide information about authorizations and appropriations relevant to the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023.
Authorizations are laws that establish or continue the operation of a federal program or agency.
Some authorizations include an authorization of appropriations, which sanctions a particular type of spending within a program. But authorizations of appropriations aren’t required.
We identified authorizations and authorizations of appropriations relevant to the Act, by account, for 17 selected agencies.
We also identified 7 accounts—across 6 of the agencies we reviewed—that received new appropriations for 2023.
Highlights
What GAO Found
Authorizations are statutory provisions that establish and provide for the continuing operation of federal programs or activities. Some authorizations also include an authorization of appropriations, which authorizes Congress to enact appropriations to fund the programs or activities. However, there is no general requirement, either constitutional or statutory, that an appropriations act be preceded by a specific authorization of appropriations. In general, an authorizing statute imposing substantive functions upon an agency is itself sufficient authorization for any subsequent appropriations.
GAO identified a permanent agency-level authorization for 17 selected agencies.
Table: Agency-Level Statutory Authorizations for Selected Cabinet-Level Agencies
|
Agency |
Public Law Citation |
Date of Enactment |
U.S. Code Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Department of Agriculture |
Ch. 72, § 1, 12 Stat. 387, 387 (1862) |
5/15/1862 |
7 U.S.C. § 2201 |
|
Department of Commerce |
Ch. 552, § 1, 32 Stat. 825, 825 (1903) |
2/14/1903 |
15 U.S.C. § 1501 |
|
Department of Defense |
Pub. L. No. 80-325, § 201, 61 Stat. 496, 499–500 (1947) |
7/26/1947 |
10 U.S.C. § 111 |
|
Department of Education |
Pub. L. No. 96-88, § 201, 93 Stat. 668, 671 (1979) |
10/17/1979 |
20 U.S.C. § 3411 |
|
Department of Energy |
Pub. L. No. 95-91, § 201, 91 Stat. 565, 569 (1977) |
8/4/1977 |
42 U.S.C. § 7131 |
|
Department of Health and Human Services |
Pub. L. No. 83-13, 67 Stat. 18, 18–19 (1953) |
4/1/1953 |
42 U.S.C. § 3501 |
|
Department of Homeland Security |
Pub. L. No. 107-296, § 101, 116 Stat. 2135, 2142 (2002) |
11/25/2002 |
6 U.S.C. § 111 |
|
Department of Housing and Urban Development |
Pub. L. No. 89-174, § 3, 79 Stat. 667, 667 (1965) |
9/9/1965 |
42 U.S.C. § 3532
|
|
Department of the Interior |
Ch. 108, § 1, 9 Stat. 395, 395 (1849) |
3/3/1849 |
43 U.S.C. § 1451 |
|
Department of Justice |
Pub. L. No. 41-97, § 1, 16 Stat. 162, 162 (1870) |
6/22/1870 |
28 U.S.C. § 501 |
|
Department of Labor |
Ch. 141, § 1, 37 Stat. 736, 736 (1914) |
3/4/1914 |
29 U.S.C. § 551 |
|
Department of State |
Ch. 1, § 1, 1 Stat. 28, 28–29 (1789) |
7/27/1789 |
22 U.S.C. § 2651 |
|
Department of Transportation |
Pub. L. No. 89-670, § 3(a), 80 Stat. 931, 931 (1966) |
10/15/1966 |
49 U.S.C. § 102 |
|
Department of the Treasury |
Ch. 12, § 1, 1 Stat. 65, 65 (1789) |
10/2/1789 |
31 U.S.C. § 301 |
|
Department of Veterans Affairs |
Pub. L. No. 100-527, § 2, 102 Stat. 2635, 2635 (1988) |
10/25/1988 |
38 U.S.C. § 301 |
|
Environmental Protection Agency |
Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1970, 84 Stat. 2086, 2086 (1970) |
12/2/1970 |
42 U.S.C. § 4321 note |
|
Small Business Administration |
Pub. L. No. 83-163, § 204(a), 67 Stat. 230, 233 (1953) |
7/30/1953 |
15 U.S.C. § 633 |
Source: GAO analysis of public laws and the U.S. Code. | GAO-25-107294
Additionally, for each selected agency, GAO identified relevant authorizations and authorizations of appropriations by appropriation account in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023. Congress has established varying structures for the appropriations, authorizations, and authorizations of appropriations that apply to federal agencies. Therefore, this information is not comparable across agencies. This page includes a link to a downloadable data set for each selected agency that contains information about appropriations, authorizations, and authorizations of appropriations for each appropriations account funded in the act.
GAO also identified seven appropriations accounts—across six of the 17 selected agencies—that were provided budget authority in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 that did not previously receive budget authority, according to Office of Management and Budget data.
Why GAO Did This Study
GAO was asked to review authorizations and authorizations of appropriations for federal agencies. This report provides information for selected agencies about:
- agency-level authorizations;
- authorizations and authorizations of appropriations by appropriations account in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023; and
- new appropriations accounts in fiscal year 2023, specifically accounts that were provided budget authority in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 that had not been provided budget authority previously.
GAO selected 17 agencies that 1) were in the Cabinet at the start of this review and 2) are subject to the Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990. They were the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, the Interior, Justice, Labor, State, Transportation, the Treasury, and Veterans Affairs; the Environmental Protection Agency; and the Small Business Administration. These agencies accounted for approximately two-thirds of the accounts funded in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 and approximately 90 percent of appropriations provided for federal agencies for fiscal year 2023.
GAO reviewed U.S. Code to identify agency-level authorizations and any related authorizations of appropriations. GAO then reviewed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 and, as necessary, Congressional Budget Justifications for fiscal year 2023 to identify authorizations relevant to each selected agency’s appropriations accounts. GAO used common legal databases to locate key information about each authorizing law, such as dates of enactment, public law numbers, locations of authorization provisions in U.S. Code, and any authorizations of appropriations the authorizing laws contain. GAO requested each selected agency to review this material it compiled. In some cases, GAO’s methodology did not identify relevant authorizing laws or key information about them.
GAO reviewed data from the Public Budget Database included with the Budget of the U.S. Government to identify appropriations accounts across the selected agencies that were provided budget authority in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 that had not been provided budget authority previously.
For more information, contact Jeff Arkin at (202) 512-6806 or arkinj@gao.gov.