Which legislative actions provide program authority to establish or continue a federal program or agency and set guidelines to which it must adhere?

• A. Appropriation Bills (House and Senate)
• B. Budget Authorization Bills (House and Senate)
• C. Authorization Bills (House and Senate)
• D. Regulatory Acts (House and Senate)

Answer: (C)

Focus on how Congress grants legal authority for a federal program. Authorization acts are the instrument that creates or continues programs or agencies and sets the rules they must follow. They define what the program is allowed to do, its purpose, scope, duration, required oversight, and any performance or reporting requirements. This is the legal basis that lets the program operate and guides how it must be run.

Funding is a separate step; even with authorization, actual money to run the program comes through appropriations. Appropriations provide the dollars and may include spending constraints, but they do not establish the program’s existence or set its operating guidelines—that is the job of the authorization.

The other options don’t fit as well. Budget-related actions generally outline spending levels rather than authorize the program’s existence or its governance. Regulatory acts concern how programs or activities are implemented and governed, but they don’t by themselves authorize the creation or continuation of the program; they come after authority has been established.