Congress funds 1,264 ‘zombie’ programs

Topline: Congress allocated at least $516 billion for federal programs with expired authorizations in fiscal year 2024, and likely far more, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

These “zombie” programs have no legal mandate to exist, yet they receive funding from Congress every year

Key facts: Many laws passed by Congress include money that must be used for a specific purpose. The same law will authorize Congress to provide more funds for the same purpose in the future, but only for a set number of years.