To strengthen and enhance the congressional power of the purse, and for other purposes.
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
IntroducedMr. Boyle of Pennsylvania (for himself, Mr. Doggett, Mr. Scott …
Summary
What This Bill Does
The Congressional Power of the Purse Act reasserts Congress's constitutional authority over federal spending and national emergencies. It prevents the President from withholding funds that Congress has appropriated, requires Congressional approval for national emergency declarations, and creates new oversight tools for the Government Accountability Office.
Who Benefits and How
Congress gains significant new powers to enforce its spending decisions and control presidential emergency declarations. The Government Accountability Office receives expanded authority to sue the executive branch in federal court to force release of impounded funds. Federal contractors, grantees, and state/local governments receiving federal funds benefit from reduced risk that their funding will be delayed or withheld by the executive branch.
Who Bears the Burden and How
The President faces substantial new constraints on emergency powers, which now expire in 45 days without Congressional approval and require annual renewal. The Office of Management and Budget and all federal agencies face major new compliance and reporting requirements. Federal employees involved in budget execution face potential criminal penalties (up to ,000 fine and 2 years imprisonment) for illegally withholding appropriated funds. The Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel must publish decades of previously secret budget law opinions.
Key Provisions
- Prohibits executive branch from withholding appropriated funds within 90 days of expiration, effectively ending impoundment
- Creates criminal penalties for federal employees who knowingly withhold appropriated funds
- Empowers GAO to sue in federal court to force release of withheld funds
- Requires national emergencies to expire after 45 days unless Congress enacts a joint resolution of approval
- Creates new Inspector General for the Office of Management and Budget
- Requires publication of all DOJ Office of Legal Counsel opinions on budget law dating back to 1969
- Mandates disclosure of presidential emergency action documents to Congress
Evidence Chain:
This summary is derived from the structured analysis below. See "Detailed Analysis" for per-title beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
Primary Purpose
Strengthens Congressional oversight of federal spending by reforming impoundment controls, requiring transparency in budget execution, and limiting presidential emergency powers by requiring Congressional approval for national emergencies.
Policy Domains
Legislative Strategy
"Restore congressional power of the purse by preventing executive impoundment of appropriated funds, requiring transparency in budget execution, and requiring affirmative Congressional approval for emergency powers"
Likely Beneficiaries
- Congress (institutional power)
- Government Accountability Office
- Congressional committees
- Recipients of federal grants and contracts
Likely Burden Bearers
- Executive Branch agencies
- Office of Management and Budget
- The President
- Federal employees involved in budget execution
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "the_president"
- → President of the United States
- "department_or_agency"
- → Any executive department or agency
- "the_attorney_general"
- → Attorney General of the United States
- "the_comptroller_general"
- → Comptroller General (head of GAO)
- "the_director"
- → Director of OMB
- "the_president"
- → President of the United States
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of the Treasury
- "the_president"
- → President of the United States
- "the_attorney_general"
- → Attorney General of the United States
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
A declaration of a national emergency shall remain in effect for 45 calendar days and shall terminate unless Congress enacts a joint resolution of approval
A joint resolution containing a provision approving a proclamation of national emergency and a list of provisions of law specified by the President
Any document created by any Federal agency designed to implement a presidential decision or transmit a presidential request when an emergency disrupts normal governmental processes
Budget authority must be made available for obligation in sufficient time to be prudently obligated, and may not be withheld during the 90-day period before expiration of availability
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology