Money & budgets
budget authority
The legal permission to commit federal money. Outlays are the money actually going out the door, which can happen years later.
In full
Congress provides budget authority; agencies obligate it by signing contracts or awarding grants; Treasury disburses outlays when bills come due. A single year's appropriation can produce outlays across several years, which is why a bill's headline number and its effect on this year's deficit often differ substantially.
Also written as: outlays, obligation
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A plain-language explanation for civic education, not legal advice. When in doubt, the official source named above controls.