In committee
Congressional Power of the Purse Act
This bill limits the executive branch’s ability to delay or withhold money that Congress has funded for government services and programs. It establishes criminal penalties and potential job dismissal for federal officials who knowingly freeze approved funding, while granting the Government Accountability Office the power to sue agencies that block spending or withhold budget records. In addition, the legislation requires the White House to disclose its legal opinions on spending law, detail emergency spending, and turn over confidential emergency action plans to congressional oversight committees.
People affected—The bill governs internal federal budget execution, inter-branch oversight, and administrative/emergency authorities; it does not identify a specific population count.
Fiscal magnitude—no CBO estimate published
Reach76provisional · pending reviewrigor: heuristic llm
What this bill touches.
Spending vs. restraint+35Ethics & oversight+75
Who it helps · who it burdens.
Who it helps
- Members of CongressGains the authority to receive government records without agencies asserting Freedom of Information Act exemptions (Sec. 224), and oversight committee leaders and designated staff are guaranteed access and required security clearances to inspect presidential emergency action documents (Sec. 322(a)-(c)).
- Comptroller General and Government Accountability OfficeReceives broad new oversight powers, the right to interview federal agency employees and contractors, a mandatory 20-day agency response window for inquiries, and express authority to sue executive agencies in federal district court to force the release of funds or compel document production (Sec. 104(a), Sec. 105, Sec. 221(a), Sec. 225(a)).
- General public and legal researchersGains free, searchable, sortable, and downloadable public online access to final Office of Legal Counsel legal opinions dealing with budget, appropriations, and deficit control statutes (Sec. 227(a)-(c)).
Who it burdens
- Federal agency officers and employeesSubject to administrative discipline, suspension, removal, criminal fines up to $5,000, and up to two years in prison for knowingly and willfully withholding appropriated funds required to be made available for obligation (Sec. 106(a)).
- Federal executive agenciesProhibited from withholding, deferring, or conditioning appropriated funds within 90 days of expiration (Sec. 102(a)), required to respond to Comptroller General inquiries within 20 days and permit staff interviews (Sec. 104(a), Sec. 221(a)), required to submit detailed Antideficiency Act reports (Sec. 222(a)-(b)), and subjected to civil enforcement lawsuits in federal district court (Sec. 105, Sec. 221(a), Sec. 225(a)).
- Department of JusticeRequired to promptly review and investigate reported Antideficiency Act and impoundment violations, submit annual investigation reports to Congress, and publish all final Office of Legal Counsel opinions on budget and appropriations law on a public website (Sec. 106(d), Sec. 223(a)-(b), Sec. 227(a)-(c)).
- Office of Management and BudgetSubject to internal statutory oversight and investigations through the establishment of a dedicated, independent Office of the Inspector General within the agency (Sec. 226(a)-(c)).