Authorization bill

An authorization bill is a type of legislation used in the United States to authorize the activities of the various agencies and programs that are part of the federal government of the United States. Authorizing such programs is one of the powers of the United States Congress. Authorizations give those things the legal power to operate and exist. Authorization bills must be passed in both the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate before being signed by the President of the United States in order to become law. They may originate in either chamber of Congress, unlike appropriations bills, which must originate in the House. They can also be considered at any time during the year.

According to a reference glossary provided by the United States Senate, an authorization act is "A law that establishes or continues one or more Federal agencies or programs, establishes the terms and conditions under which they operate, authorizes the enactment of appropriations, and specifies how appropriated funds are to be used. Authorizations acts sometimes provide permanent appropriations." Authorization bills create, modify, and/or extend agencies, programs, and/or programs for a limited amount of time (by including an expiration date) or make them perpetual (without expiration date). The bill may get specific about who the leaders of the program will be, what their specific responsibilities are, what reports must be filed with Congress, and so forth. Congress can place recommended funding levels for the agencies and programs they authorize in an authorization bill, but their recommendations are non-binding. The recommendations can be for specific amounts in specific years for specific purposes, or it can be an unlimited amount ("such sums as may be necessary") in a particular time period or indefinitely. It is the appropriations bills that determine how much funding those agencies and programs will get.

Most authorization bills today are for multiple years, with the exception of defense and intelligence agency authorizations, which happen annually. The defense authorization bills are referred to as the National Defense Authorization Act.

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