GAO issues legal opinions and decisions to Congress and federal agencies on the use of, and accountability for, public funds, including ruling on potential violations of the Antideficiency Act. This section includes appropriations law opinions and decisions, as well as GAO’s Red Book (Principles of Federal Appropriations Law), information on our appropriations law training, and more.
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Learn about the Antideficiency Act, which prohibits federal agencies from spending federal funds in advance or in excess of an appropriation.
Learn about the purposes and principles of federal fiscal law through GAO’s Principles of Appropriations Law course.
Read the current edition of the Principles of Federal Appropriations Law (Red Book), a multi-volume treatise concerning federal fiscal law.
Find out about the annual appropriations law forum that GAO's Office of General Counsel hosts for federal lawyers.
GAO's Federal Budget Glossary fulfills part of GAO’s responsibility to publish standard terms, definitions, and classifications for the government’s fiscal, budget, and program information.
We are currently updating the Federal Budget Glossary. To provide feedback on the glossary or suggest potential changes, please email budgetglossary@gao.gov.
Title 7 of GAO's Policy and Procedures Manual for Guidance of Federal Agencies manual is related to the development, installation, and operation of an agency’s fiscal procedures in its financial management system.
