1、?Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress ? ?ederal government spending involves a multi-step process in which budget authority is enacted and obligated, and outlays are generated. Budget authority is enacted in law; it provides federal agencies the legal basis to incur obligations. Obligatio
2、ns, which reflect such activities as employing personnel, entering into contracts, and submitting purchase orders, establish financial liabilities of the federal government. Outlays are payments that liquidate these obligations. This multi-step process can be illustrated as a spending pipeline (see
3、Figure 1). For more information on the budget process, see the CRS Guides to Congressional Processes at http:/www.crs.gov/products/guides/guidehome.shtml. Figure 1. The Spending Pipeline Budget authority, which is provided in appropriations acts and direct spending legislation, establishes the speci
4、fic amounts made available for obligation. In some instances, however, budget authority is indefinite, providing “such sums as may be necessary” to achieve certain purposes. Budget authority may be made available for obligation for a one-year, multi-year, or no-year period. One-year, or annual, budg
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