Authorization Bills

Congress passes authorization bills to determine which programs and agencies the federal government is allowed to operate. Authorization bills may create legal authority for new programs [Page 34]or continue the operation of existing ones, either indefinitely or for one or several years. These bills set policy and procedures for government programs. Some authorizations set a ceiling on the amount of money that may be appropriated for the programs; others are open ended, simply permitting the appropriation of “such sums as may be necessary.”

Authorization bills do not themselves provide money; that requires separate action through the appropriations process. In fact, historically, members of appropriations committees—seeing themselves as guardians of the Treasury and many carrying a conservative philosophy about government spending—have provided less, sometimes much less, for programs than the authorizing legislation allowed. Congressional rules state that programs must be authorized before money can be appropriated for them, but the requirement is often waived. Members of authorizing committees resist this waiver but have little power to prevent it, because they believe it diminishes their role in overseeing and guiding programs. The Defense Department and the intelligence community agencies such as the CIA are the ones that most frequently are subject to both authorization and appropriations bills. The State Department, as of early 2013, had not been subject to an authorization law since 2002. (See appropriations bills).