What GAO Found Every year, Congress appropriates funds to support federal activities and address national priorities. Congress generally appropriates funding, or budget authority, to an agency for use during a specific period, known as the period of availability. The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 authorized trillions of dollars to federal agencies to obligate, or commit to pay for goods and services, during fiscal year 2023 and beyond. GAO found that 156 of the 258 appropriation accounts in GAO’s review of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 had budget authority available for obligation in fiscal year 2026 or later, as of September 30, 2025. These accounts had approximately $20.9 billion in unobligated budget authority, or about 1.97 percent of the approximately $1 trillion initially appropriated that had a period of availability of fiscal year 2026 or later. The unobligated budget authority is unexpired, and is comprised of multiple periods of availability (see table). Table: Unobligated Budget Authority from the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 by Period of Availability, for Selected Agencies Period of availability Budget authority provided in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (in USD) Unobligated budget authority, as of September 30, 2025 (in USD) Unobligated budget authority as a proportion of budget authority…
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Federal Budget: Remaining Budget Authority from the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023
Source: US GAO Reports — US Government, Public Domain