# Reprogramming > [!note] Stub > This is a short entry that hasn't been fully written yet. Moving money within an appropriation account to a different purpose than the one Congress had in mind when it provided the funds. It is distinct from a transfer, which moves money between accounts and requires statutory authority, and from a rescission or an impoundment, which withhold money rather than redirect it. No general statute governs reprogramming. The rules live in the general provisions of each annual appropriations act and in the committee report language the act incorporates, which is why they differ by bill and can change from year to year. The usual pattern bars spending through a reprogramming that creates a new program, eliminates one, increases funds for something Congress denied, relocates an office or employees, reorganizes or renames offices, or contracts out federal work — unless the Appropriations Committees receive written notice a set number of days in advance, or in some cases give prior approval. That makes the reprogramming provision the one place many internal executive-branch decisions are visible to Congress at all. It also sets the limit of that visibility: the trigger is the movement of money, so a decision that costs nothing crosses no threshold. See [[How an Agency Reorganizes Itself Without Congress]]. ## See also - [[Appropriations Process]] · [[Appropriations Process Flow]] · [[How Federal Money Moves]] - [[How an Agency Reorganizes Itself Without Congress]] · [[Foreign Military Financing Reprogramming 2026]] - [[Power of the Purse]] · [[Congressional Oversight]] · [[Impoundment]]