# Understanding the Unauthorized Spending Accountability Act

This bill creates an automatic budget-cutting system for government programs that don't have current legal authorization to spend money. Here's what that means in practical terms: Congress is supposed to regularly pass laws that say "this program is allowed to exist and spend money for the next few years." But many programs keep running even after their legal authorization expires, because Congress never gets around to renewing them. This bill would force those programs to either get renewed or face automatic budget cuts.

Starting in 2026, any program operating without current authorization would face a three-year countdown. In the first year after authorization expires, the program's budget gets cut by 10 percent. If it's still unauthorized in years two and three, it faces an additional 15 percent cut each year. So a program that stays unauthorized could lose up to 40 percent of its funding over three years. After three years of being unauthorized, the program would be completely shut down unless Congress passes a new law to reauthorize it. Even then, Congress would only be allowed to authorize it for a maximum of three years at a time, starting the cycle over again.

The bill does include an escape hatch: if Congress reauthorizes a program before the budget cuts take effect, the cuts don't happen and the program continues normally. However, any new authorization must include a sunset date—meaning it automatically expires after no more than three years. The goal is to force Congress to regularly review and actively approve programs rather than letting them run indefinitely on autopilot. Supporters argue this creates accountability; critics worry it could disrupt important services if Congress gets too busy to renew authorizations on time.

Unauthorized Spending Accountability Act

Cammack, Kat

Unauthorized Spending Accountability ActThis bill reduces budgetary levels for certain federal programs that are funded through the annual appropriations process and do not have an authorization of appropriations.Under the bill, budgetary levels are spending allocations provided to the congressional appropriations committees by a congressional budget resolution or a deeming resolution. The allocations are provided under the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 and are often referred to as 302(a) allocations.The bill applies to programs included in the Congressional Budget Office's (CBO's) annual report listing programs that are funded through the appropriations process and have an authorization of appropriations that has either expired or will expire during the year.&nbsp;If a program is listed in the&nbsp;CBO report, the bill requires specified reductions to be implemented over a three-year period and terminates the unauthorized programs at the end of the third unauthorized year.