The Antideficiency Act is a federal law that bars government agencies from spending money Congress has not appropriated, spending more than Congress authorized, or committing the government to obligations before funding is in place. First enacted in 1870 and reshaped into its modern form in 1950, it protects Congress’s constitutional power of the purse by making it illegal for any executive branch employee to obligate funds the government does not have. It is also the statute that forces most of the government to close when appropriations lapse.
What the Act Forbids
The Act’s prohibitions fall into four main categories, each aimed at a different way an agency might outrun its budget.
Spending More Than Was Appropriated
Under 31 U.S.C. § 1341(a)(1)(A), no federal employee may authorize a payment or create a financial obligation that exceeds the amount available in the relevant appropriation or fund.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 31 USC 1341 – Limitations on Expending and Obligating Amounts An “obligation” is any binding commitment that will eventually require payment: a signed contract, a purchase order, a hire. If $1 million is allocated for a project, a contracting officer cannot sign a deal for $1,000,001. The cap is dollar-for-dollar, and it applies no matter how important the program or how senior the approver.
Spending Before Funds Are Appropriated
A parallel provision, 31 U.S.C. § 1341(a)(1)(B), addresses timing. Federal employees cannot commit the government to a contract or obligation before Congress has enacted the relevant appropriation, unless another statute specifically authorizes it.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 31 USC 1341 – Limitations on Expending and Obligating Amounts Congress may choose not to fund a program at all, and an agency that signs contracts in anticipation of money arriving effectively forces Congress’s hand. The rule bites hardest at the boundary between fiscal years: even a project funded for several consecutive years cannot get new commitments for the next year until the new appropriation becomes law, and even a budget bill expected to pass in days does not count until it does.2U.S. Government Accountability Office. Antideficiency Act
Accepting Voluntary Services
Federal agencies generally cannot accept unpaid labor. Under 31 U.S.C. § 1342, no government employee may accept voluntary services or employ someone beyond what the law authorizes.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 31 USC 1342 – Limitation on Voluntary Services The concern is not generosity but liability. Unpaid workers can later seek back pay, file injury claims, or generate other costs Congress never budgeted for, which is another way of committing the government to spending it never approved.
Exceeding Apportionments and Allotments
Even when an agency has plenty in its total appropriation, a second layer of controls applies. Under 31 U.S.C. § 1512, the Office of Management and Budget divides each appropriation into smaller portions called apportionments, usually by quarter, activity, or project, so that agencies cannot burn through the annual budget in the first few months.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 31 USC Chapter 15 – Appropriation Accounting Under 31 U.S.C. § 1517(a), exceeding any apportioned amount is a separate violation, even if the agency’s total budget remains intact.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 31 USC 1517 – Prohibited Obligations and Expenditures
Below apportionments, agencies create their own internal subdivisions called allotments and suballotments. Under 31 U.S.C. § 1514, each agency must set up administrative controls that keep spending within the apportioned amounts and let managers pin responsibility when limits are exceeded.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 31 USC 1514 – Administrative Division of Apportionments OMB requires that agency fund control regulations treat exceeding an allotment or suballotment as an Antideficiency Act violation too.7The White House. OMB Circular No. A-11 Appendix H – Checklist for Funds Control Regulations A program manager who overspends a quarterly allotment can face the same legal consequences as someone who overspends an entire appropriation.
Why the Act Causes Government Shutdowns
The Antideficiency Act is the legal mechanism behind government shutdowns. When Congress fails to enact appropriations before a new fiscal year begins, the Act requires agencies to stop most operations, because they can no longer legally incur obligations or accept employee services without funding.8U.S. Government Accountability Office. Shutdowns/Lapses in Appropriations
Agencies apply a two-step analysis to decide what continues. First, activities backed by funds that remain available, such as multi-year or no-year appropriations or fee-based accounts Congress made available outside the annual process, may keep going. Second, for activities that depend on the lapsed annual appropriation, only those covered by the § 1342 emergency exception for the safety of human life or the protection of property may proceed.8U.S. Government Accountability Office. Shutdowns/Lapses in Appropriations
Employees whose duties fall within one of these exceptions are designated “excepted” and keep working, though they may not receive pay until appropriations are restored. Everyone else is furloughed. Agency legal counsel and senior managers make the designations using guidance from OMB and the Department of Justice. Ongoing, regular functions that do not immediately threaten life or property cannot continue, which is why national park operations and routine benefit processing typically stop while air traffic control and law enforcement keep running.
Penalties for Violations
The Act creates two tracks of consequences. For any violation of the spending prohibitions in § 1341(a) or the voluntary service ban in § 1342, the responsible employee faces administrative discipline that can include suspension without pay or removal.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 31 USC 1349 – Adverse Personnel Actions If the violation was knowing and willful, criminal penalties apply: a fine of up to $5,000, imprisonment of up to two years, or both.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 31 USC 1350 – Criminal Penalty
The criminal provision has almost no enforcement history. According to the Government Accountability Office, no federal employee appears to have ever been prosecuted or convicted under it. The real deterrent is the administrative discipline paired with the mandatory reporting process, which can end careers and draw congressional scrutiny without any criminal case.
Reporting a Violation
When a violation is confirmed, the agency head must immediately report all relevant facts and the actions taken to the President, both houses of Congress, and the Comptroller General.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 31 USC 1351 – Reports on Violations A parallel reporting requirement applies to apportionment violations under § 1517(b).5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 31 USC 1517 – Prohibited Obligations and Expenditures The report must identify the appropriation involved, the amount and date of the violation, the position of the responsible employee, the cause, the discipline imposed, and the safeguards put in place to prevent a repeat. If the conduct is suspected to have been knowing and willful, the agency must confirm it has referred the matter to the Department of Justice.12The White House (Obama Administration Archives). OMB Circular No. A-11 Section 145 – Requirements for Reporting Antideficiency Act Violations
The GAO plays an independent watchdog role. After publishing a decision concluding that a violation occurred, the GAO contacts the agency to ensure a report is filed. If the agency does not report within a reasonable period, the GAO notifies Congress directly and flags the failure to comply.2U.S. Government Accountability Office. Antideficiency Act
Narrow Exceptions
The voluntary services ban includes a carve-out for emergencies involving the safety of human life or the protection of property. That language is defined restrictively in the statute itself and does not cover ongoing, regular government functions whose suspension would not immediately threaten lives or property.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 31 USC 1342 – Limitation on Voluntary Services An underfunded office cannot bring in unpaid volunteers to answer phones or process routine paperwork.
Congress has also created a separate exception for student volunteers. Under 5 U.S.C. § 3111, agency heads may accept uncompensated service from students enrolled at least half-time in a recognized educational institution, provided the work is part of a program designed to give the student educational experience and does not displace any paid employee.13Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 5 USC 3111 – Acceptance of Volunteer Service The statute specifically overrides the Antideficiency Act’s voluntary service ban for qualifying students, and its definition of “student” reaches from high school through graduate school, including individuals on a break between school years of no more than five months who intend to continue their education.