Title 10, Armed ForcesRelease 119-102
§2204 Obligation of Appropriations
Title 10 › Subtitle A — General Military Law › PART IV — SERVICE, SUPPLY, AND PROPERTY › CHAPTER 131 — PLANNING AND COORDINATION › § 2204
Summary
Funds for the Department of Defense can only be spent at spending rates the Secretary of Defense approves, except the department may incur a deficiency if a law allows it.
Full Legal Text
Title 10, §2204
Armed Forces, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
To prevent overdrafts and deficiencies in the fiscal year for which appropriations are made, appropriations made to the Department of Defense or to a military department, and reimbursements thereto, are available for obligation and expenditure only under scheduled rates of obligation, or changes thereto, that have been approved by the Secretary of Defense. This section does not prohibit the Department of Defense from incurring a deficiency that it has been authorized by law to incur.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Historical and Revision Notes
Revised sectionSource (U.S. Code)Source (Statutes at Large) 22045:172c.
July 26, 1947, ch. 343, § 404; added Aug. 10, 1949, ch. 412, § 11 (7th par.), 63 Stat. 587. The words “on and after the beginning of the next fiscal year following
August 10, 1949,” are omitted as executed. The last sentence is substituted for the proviso in 5 U.S.C. 172c.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
10 U.S.C. § 2204
Title 10, Armed Forces
Last Updated
Aug 21, 2026
Release point: 119-102