If you obligate at the current rate of operations and Congress later appropriates a lesser amount, you are in violation of an ADA: True or False?

If you obligate at the current rate of operations and Congress later appropriates a lesser amount, you are in violation of an ADA: True or False?

• A. True
• B. False
• C. Sometimes
• D. Not applicable

Answer: (B)

The Anti-Deficiency Act stops you from creating obligations that exceed funds available at the time the obligation is entered. If you obligate based on the funds already appropriated (even at the current rate), you’re acting within the authority you have at that moment. If Congress later reduces the appropriation, that does not retroactively make the earlier obligation illegal—the obligation was funded when it was made. What would matter is whether you continue to incur new obligations beyond the reduced appropriation or deobligate any excess to align with the new amount. So, the statement is false.

The Anti-Deficiency Act stops you from creating obligations that exceed funds available at the time the obligation is entered. If you obligate based on the funds already appropriated (even at the current rate), you’re acting within the authority you have at that moment. If Congress later reduces the appropriation, that does not retroactively make the earlier obligation illegal—the obligation was funded when it was made. What would matter is whether you continue to incur new obligations beyond the reduced appropriation or deobligate any excess to align with the new amount. So, the statement is false.