CBO: $494B in Expired Authorizations
The CBO's 2026 report shows $494 billion in appropriations linked to 1,447 authorizations that had already expired before the year started.
The Congressional Budget Office has released its final 2026 report on expired and expiring authorizations of appropriations. The report, published on August 28, 2026, updates a preliminary version from January 15 of the same year.
Authorizations of appropriations are laws that provide explicit funding guidance to congressional appropriations committees. They may be permanent or have a specific expiration date. This report focuses only on those with expiration dates, which represent a small subset of all authorizations in law.
CBO identified 1,447 authorizations of appropriations that expired before the beginning of 2026. Of those, 512 expired authorizations were associated with 2026 appropriations totaling $494 billion. The agency also identified 308 authorizations set to expire before the end of 2026.
The report fulfills a statutory requirement to inform Congress about programs funded in the current fiscal year despite their authorizations having lapsed. The preliminary report was prepared while most agencies operated under a short-term continuing resolution, so it lacked information on 2026 appropriations for programs with expired authorizations.
Scope and Purpose of the Report
This annual report is intended to aid Congress by providing information about expired or expiring authorizations. However, CBO states it should not be considered definitive for applying House or Senate rules about appropriating funds. Those rules may restrict lawmakers from considering an appropriation if it lacks a current authorization.
The Speaker of the House or the Presiding Officer of the Senate determines whether such a restriction applies. They base this decision on advice from the relevant chamber's Office of the Parliamentarian. Rules that could strike proposed appropriations without authorizations from legislation have often been suspended or waived in the past.
Key Figures from the Data
The underlying data provides a detailed breakdown of the authorizations. For further analysis, you can review the fixtures of expired programs and the stats on associated funding levels.
| Category | Number of Authorizations | Associated 2026 Appropriations |
|---|---|---|
| Expired before 2026 | 1,447 | Not specified for all |
| Expired with 2026 funding | 512 | $494 billion |
| Set to expire during 2026 | 308 | Not applicable |
CBO notes that appropriations other than those it identified may be available to carry out programs whose authorizations have expired. The report covers programs and activities funded for the current fiscal year whose authorizations have either expired or will expire during the year. The final document updates the earlier preliminary assessment with complete 2026 appropriation data.
