Lawful Appropriations

                    The topic of discussion for this Constitution Monday comes from Article I, Section 9, Clause 7:  "No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law."  This clause in the Constitution promises that no taxpayer money will be spent unless their elected representatives approve it.

                    "This is the meaning of the phrase, `appropriation made by law.'  It is intended to mean that neither the executive nor the legislature alone can raise or spend money at will, but that each appropriation bill must be passed by both the House and Senate and signed by the President (or passed over his veto by a two-thirds vote).  …

                    "In other words, even though a legitimate debt is due by the United States, no payment can be made until an appropriation for that purpose has been legally processed as described above."  (See W. Cleon Skousen, The Making of America - The Substance and Meaning of the Constitution, pp. 484-485.)

                    Gary Kepplinger explained this clause further:  "The Appropriations Clause is the cornerstone of Congress's `power of the purse.'  It assigns to Congress the role of final arbiter of the use of public funds.  The source of Congress's power to spend derives from Article I, Section 8, Clause 1.  The Appropriations Clause provides Congress with a mechanism to control or to limit spending by the federal government.  The Framers chose the particular language of limitation, not authorization, for the first part of the clause and placed it in Section 9 of Article I, along with other restrictions on governmental actions to limit, most notably, executive action."  (See The Heritage Guide to the Constitution, 163.)