Appropriations bill (United States)

In the United States Congress, an appropriations bill is legislation to appropriate^[1] federal funds to specific federal government departments, agencies and programs. The money provides funding for operations, personnel, equipment and activities.^[2] Regular appropriations bills are passed annually, with the funding they provide covering one fiscal year. The fiscal year is the accounting period of the federal government, which runs from October 1 to September 30 of the following year.^[3] Appropriations bills are under the jurisdiction of the United States House Committee on Appropriations and the United States Senate Committee on Appropriations.^[2] Both Committees have twelve matching subcommittees, each tasked with working on one of the twelve annual regular appropriations bills.

There are three types of appropriations bills: regular appropriations bills, continuing resolutions, and supplemental appropriations bills.^[2] Regular appropriations bills are the twelve standard bills that cover the funding for the federal government for one fiscal year to be enacted into law by October 1. If Congress has not enacted the regular appropriations bills by that time, it may pass a continuing resolution, which generally continues the pre-existing appropriations at the same levels as the previous fiscal year (or with minor modifications) for a set amount of time.^[2] If Congress fails to pass an appropriation bill or a continuing resolution, or if the President vetoes a passed bill, it may result in a government shutdown. The third type of appropriations bills are supplemental appropriations bills, which add additional funding above and beyond what was originally appropriated at the beginning of the fiscal year. Supplemental appropriations bills can be used for things like disaster relief.

Appropriations bills are one part of a larger United States budget and spending process. They are preceded in that process by the president's budget proposal, congressional budget resolutions, and the 302(b) allocation. Article I, section 9, clause 7 of the U.S. Constitution states that "No money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law..." This is what gives Congress the power to make these appropriations. The President, however, still has the power to veto appropriations bills.^[2] However, the President does not have line-item veto authority so that he must either sign the entire bill into law or veto it.