Section 1001
Impoundment Control Act of 1974

TITLE X—IMPOUNDMENT CONTROL

PART A—GENERAL PROVISIONS

DISCLAIMER

Sec. 1001.^[1] Nothing contained in this Act, or in any amendments made by this Act, shall be construed as—

(1) asserting or conceding the constitutional powers or limitations of either the Congress or the President;

(2) ratifying or approving any impoundment^[2]

heretofore or hereafter executed or approved by the President or any other Federal officer or employee, except insofar as pursuant to statutory authorization then in effect;

(3) affecting in any way the claims or defenses of any party to litigation concerning any impoundment; or

(4) superseding any provision of law which requires the obligation of budget authority or the making of outlays thereunder.

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counsel notes

Endnotes

[1] This section is classified to the U.S. Code at 2 U.S.C. 681.

[2] “Impoundment” is the refusal of the President to spend Congressionally appropriated budget authority. Funds were first impounded by President Thomas Jefferson, with subsequent presidents doing so as well. Congress has granted the president the authority not to spend funds if it has appropriated more funds than necessary to accomplish its purposes. The impoundment power is not without limitation, even without the enactment of the Impoundment Control Act of 1974. The U.S. Supreme Court found in Train v. City of New York, 420 U.S. 35, 95 S. Ct. 839, 43 L. Ed. 2d 1 (1975), that President Richard M. Nixon could not order the impoundment of amounts of environmental protection funds for a program with which he disagreed and was enacted over his veto. The president does not have the power to override the will of Congress by refusing to expend amounts on a program with which he disagrees.

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Legislative History Notes

Public Laws 

Pub. L. 93–344, title X, §1001, July 12, 1974, 88 Stat. 332 (Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974).

References in Text

When this section sets forth “this Act” in the provision preceding paragraph (1), it means Pub. L. 93–344, July 12, 1974, 88 Stat. 297 as amended, the short title of which is “Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974”. This Act made changes to the U.S. Code as follows:

• It enacted in chapters 17, 17A, and 17B, and section 190a–3 of Title 2, The Congress, U.S. Code; and sections 11a, 11c, 11d, 1020a of former Title 31 of the U.S. Code.

• It amended sections 11, 665, 701, 1020, 1151, 1152, 1153, and 1154 of former Title 31, section 105 of Title 1, General Provisions, U.S. Code, sections 190b and 190d of Title 2, The Congress, U.S. Code.

• It repealed sections 571 and 581c–1 of former Title 31 and sections 66 and section 81 of Title 2.

• It enacted provisions set out as notes under sections 190a–1, 621, 632, and 682 of Title 2, section 105 of Title 1, and section 1020 of former Title 31.

Prior Codification

Section 1001 of the Impoundment Control Act was formerly classified to section 1400 of Title 31 prior to the general revision and enactment of Title 31, Money and Finance, by Pub. L. 97–258, §1, Sept. 13, 1982, 96 Stat. 877 (Title 31 Revision and Codification Law of 1982^[2]).

Effective Date

This section, and the chapter of the U.S. Code to which it is classified, became effective on July 12, 1974. This is set forth in section 905(a) of Pub. L. 93–344 (CBA)^[3], which was formerly set out as a note under section 621 of Title 2 of the U.S. Code.

Short Title of 1996 Amendment 

Pub. L. 104–130, §1, Apr. 9, 1996, 110 Stat. 1200 (Line Item Veto of 1996) which provided that Pub. L. 104–130 (enacting former subchapter III (§691 et seq.) provisions set out as a note under section 691 of Title 2, the Congress, U.S. Code, and amending provisions set out as notes under section 621 of Title 2, the Congress, U.S. Code) could be cited as the “Line Item Veto Act”, was omitted pursuant to section 5 of Pub. L. 104–130, set out as an Effective and Termination Dates note under section 691 of Title 2, the Congress, U.S. Code.

Short Title 

For the short title of title X of Pub. L. 93–344 (Congressional Budget and Impoundment Act of 1974) as the “Impoundment Control Act of 1974”, see section 1(a) of Pub. L. 93–344,^[4] as amended, set out as a note under 2 U.S.C.  621.

Note on Effective Date from 2 U.S.C. 621

Pub. L. 93–344, title IX, §905, July 12, 1974, 88 Stat. 331 (CBA 1974), provided effective dates for Pub. L. 93–344 prior to repeal by Pub. L. 105–33, title X, §10120(a), Aug. 5, 1997, 111 Stat. 696 (BEA 1997).

ENDNotes

[1] “Impoundment” is the refusal of the President to spend Congressionally appropriated budget authority. Funds were first impounded by President Thomas Jefferson, with subsequent presidents doing so as well. Congress has granted the president the authority not to spend funds if it has appropriated more funds than necessary to accomplish its purposes. The impoundment power is not without limitation, even without the enactment of the Impoundment Control Act of 1974. The U.S. Supreme Court found in Train v. City of New York, 420 U.S. 35, 95 S. Ct. 839, 43 L. Ed. 2d 1 (1975), that President Richard M. Nixon could not order the impoundment of amounts of environmental protection funds for a program with which he disagreed and was enacted over his veto. The president does not have the power to override the will of Congress by refusing to expend amounts on a program with which he disagrees.

[2] The “Title 31 Revision and Codification Law of 1982” refers to the the codification of title 31 by Pub. L. 97-258. The long title of the measure is: An Act To revise, codify, and enact without substantive change certain general and permanent laws, related to money and finance, as title 31, United States Code, “Money and Finance”.

[3] This is a reference to the following:

Sec. 905. (a) Except as provided in this section, the provisions of this Act shall take effect on the date of its enactment.

The Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 was enacted on July 12, 1974.

[4] Section 1(a) of Pub. L. 93-344 (Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974), as enacted, read as follows:

(a) Short Title.—This Act may be cited as the “Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974”. Titles I through IX may be cited as the “Congressional Budget Act of 1974”. Parts A and B of title X may be cited as the “Impoundment Control Act of 1974”. Part C of title X may be cited as the “Line Item Veto Act of 1996”.

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[BCR § 180]