Time, purpose, amount — the three elements we've walked one at a time — don't usually show up in their purest form. Most appropriations are lump sums with room to move. An earmark is the opposite: all three fences drawn so tight they fit on a single line,
Every dollar Congress appropriates is fenced on three sides: how long you can use it, what you can use it for, and how much there is. Time, purpose, amount. We walked the clock and the purpose. This is the last fence — the shortest to state and the one with the
Every dollar Congress appropriates is fenced three ways: how long you can use it, what you can use it for, and how much there is. Time, purpose, amount. In Part 1 we walked the clock. This post is the second fence — the one that decides whether a dollar that'
Every dollar Congress appropriates is fenced on three sides: how long you can use it, what you can use it for, and how much there is. Time, purpose, amount. Miss any one and you've got a violation — and two of the three roads dead-end at the Antideficiency
A new continuing resolution drops at 6 p.m. Your inbox lights up: "Have you seen Section 108? Is this new? Should we be worried?" Here's the answer, backed by every first-of-the-year CR since 2000: no. Every fall, the same thing happens. Congress
The bill provides $58 billion. The allocation is $57.9 billion. Somebody has to decide whether that's a foul — and almost nobody reads the rulebook they're using. The World Cup is nearing the end. Every goal that counted this tournament went through the same three things:
We tend to remember the Fourth as a shout — the bells, the fireworks, the one line everybody can quote about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Fitting, in a way. Fireworks are loud, brief, and leave nothing to read the next morning. We keep one rowdy image, too: a
The regular appropriations act isn't the last word on a fiscal year. Mid-year, the government's budget gets amended — and supplementals are the main way that happens. Here's how to read one when it lands. On June 24, 2026, OMB transmitted a letter to
The federal government will spend roughly $7 trillion this year. Nearly every dollar of it is on the public record. Now go try to find any of it. You can, technically. The appropriation is in the law. The apportionment is in OMB's portal. The execution is in a
A single subcommittee funds the IRS, the SEC, and the FCC. So why does its bill also tell the entire federal government what it can't do? If you've read Part 4 of our series on How to Read an Appropriations Act, you know the difference between
The House Energy & Water Development mark just came out as H. Rept. 119-667. Most people will read the directives and the narrative. The pros flip to the back first — to a single table that tells you, account by account, exactly what happened. Let's get into it.
GAO released the annual Antideficiency Act reports compilation last month. Nine agencies. Nearly $6 billion in reported violations. And 97% of that traces to one thing: blowing the apportionment. On April 30, GAO released its annual compilation of Antideficiency Act (ADA) reports for fiscal year 2025. Nine federal agencies reported