Department of Homeland Security: Appropriations Transfer Authority

Abstract

The establishment of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), as proposed by President George W. Bush and Members of Congress, involves in large part the transfer to the new department of existing functions carried out by many different agencies and programs. Along with the authority to transfer functions, the legislative proposals include authority to transfer the personnel, assets (including appropriations), and other items connected with these functions. The proposals for appropriations transfer authority for the new department have engendered controversy with regard to the appropriate balance between providing executive flexibility and retaining congressional control over spending. As a general matter, appropriations may be spent only on the purposes specified (31 U.S.C. 1301(a)) and they may not be transferred to other accounts without statutory approval (31 U.S.C. 1532). Any appropriations so transferred are subject to the same limitations provided under the original appropriations, except as otherwise provided by law. Congress has granted transfer authority to the executive branch in two types of measures in substantive legislation, under the jurisdiction of House and Senate legislative committees, and in annual appropriations acts, under the jurisdiction of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees. Transfer authority in substantive law pertains mainly to agency reorganization; most appropriations transfer authority available to executive agencies on a regular basis is provided in annual appropriations acts and is renewed from year to year. The Administration's proposal to establish the DHS, as reflected in the introduced version of H.R. 5005, the Homeland Security Act of 2002, provides several different types of appropriations transfer authority for the department, including general, transitional, and incidental transfer authority.

Open PDF

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Sep 16, 2002
Accession Number
ADA480164

Entities

People

  • Robert Keith

Organizations

  • Library of Congress

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Commerce
  • Congress
  • Department Of Defense
  • Department Of Homeland Security
  • Education
  • Federal Budgets
  • Financial Management
  • Government Procurement
  • Governments
  • Homeland Security
  • Law
  • National Governments
  • National Security
  • Organizational Structure
  • President (United States)
  • Public Administration
  • Security

Readers

  • Government and Public Administration Law.
  • Public Financial Management and Budgeting