Title 31Money and FinanceRelease 119-73

§1517 Prohibited obligations and expenditures

Title 31 › Subtitle SUBTITLE II— - THE BUDGET PROCESS › Chapter CHAPTER 15— - APPROPRIATION ACCOUNTING › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER II— - APPORTIONMENT › § 1517

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

No federal or District of Columbia officer or employee may spend or promise to spend more money than an apportionment (a budget limit) allows or more than the amount set by the rules in section 1514(a). If that happens, the head of the executive agency or the D.C. Mayor must immediately tell the President and Congress what occurred and what they did about it, and send the same report to the Comptroller General on the same day.

Full Legal Text

Title 31, §1517

Money and Finance — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)An officer or employee of the United States Government or of the District of Columbia government may not make or authorize an expenditure or obligation exceeding—
(1)an apportionment; or
(2)the amount permitted by regulations prescribed under section 1514(a) of this title.
(b)If an officer or employee of an executive agency or of the District of Columbia government violates subsection (a) of this section, the head of the executive agency or the Mayor of the District of Columbia, as the case may be, shall report immediately to the President and Congress all relevant facts and a statement of actions taken. A copy of each report shall also be transmitted to the Comptroller General on the same date the report is transmitted to the President and Congress.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Historical and Revision Notes

Revised SectionSource (U.S. Code)Source (Statutes at Large) 1517(a)31:665(h).R.S. § 3679(h), (i)(2)(related to (h)); Mar. 3, 1905, ch. 1484, § 4(1st par.), 33 Stat. 1257; Feb. 27, 1906, ch. 510, § 3, 34 Stat. 48; restated Sept. 6, 1950, ch. 896, § 1211, 64 Stat. 768. 1517(b)31:665(i)(2)(related to (h)). In subsection (a), before clause (1), the words “District of Columbia government” are added because of section 9 of the Act of June 26, 1912 (ch. 182, 37 Stat. 184). In clause (1), the word “apportionment” is substituted for “apportionment or reapportionment” because of section 1512(a)(last sentence) of the revised title. In subsection (b), the word “Mayor” is used because of Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1967 (eff. Aug. 11, 1967, 81 Stat. 948) and section 421, 422, and 771 of the District of Columbia Self-Government and Governmental Reorganization Act (Pub. L. 93–198, 87 Stat. 789, 818). The word “President” is substituted for “President, through the Director of the Office of Management and Budget” because section 101 and 102(a) of Reorganization Plan No. 2 of 1970 (eff. July 1, 1970, 84 Stat. 2085) designated the Bureau of the Budget as the Office of Management and Budget and transferred all functions of the Bureau to the President.

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2004—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 108–447 inserted at end “A copy of each report shall also be transmitted to the Comptroller General on the same date the report is transmitted to the President and Congress.”

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

31 U.S.C. § 1517

Title 31Money and Finance

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73