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A law that authorizes the government to spend money.
An appropriation act usually follows the enactment of authorizing legislation and is the most common way of providing the authority to fund the operations of government. As a rule, the House and Senate Appropriations Committees take up 13 regular appropriation acts each year.
See also: Appropriation
See all terms in the National Debt Glossary
Frequently Asked Questions: National Debt
- How did the national debt get to be so big?
- What's the difference between the debt and the deficit?
- Why can't the government just print more money to get out of debt?
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