Standing committees of the House and Senate with jurisdiction over legislation that permits the obligation of funds. For most programs, the Appropriations Committees are spending committees. For some programs, authorization legislation permits the obligation of funds without an appropriation, and so the authorization committees have the spending power. At times, revenue-raising committees (House Ways and Means, and Senate Finance) may also be considered spending committees because they write/modify legislation covering “entitlements,” - that is, legislation that mandates expenditures (spending) of tax revenues on entitlement programs such as Social Security.