On February 6, 2006, President Bush submitted his proposed Budget for Fiscal Year 2007 to Congress. In the Budget he requests cancellation or rescission of previously appropriated funds from 40 programs, administered by 13 agencies. All of these programs are funded through multiyear, no-year, or advance appropriations. On March 23, 2006, Congress requested that we undertake an assessment of whether executive branch agencies have withheld funds proposed for cancellation in the Budget.

We contacted the agencies responsible for these programs to obtain information on whether they were withholding funds from obligation in response to the cancellation and rescission proposals in the Budget. After evaluating the information provided, we concluded that only one instance--the Maritime Guaranteed Loan Program Account, administered by the Department of Transportation's Maritime Administration--has an agency withheld funds from obligation in response to proposed cancellations or rescissions in the Budget.