Cite as: 506 U. S. 80 (1992)
Opinion of Blackmun, J.
divested of jurisdiction by the prevailing party's transfer of the res from the district.5
III
The Government contends, however, that this res no longer can be reached, because, having been deposited in the United States Treasury, it may be released only by congressional appropriation. If so, the case is moot, or, viewed another way, it falls into the "useless judgment" exception noted above, to appellate in rem jurisdiction.
The Appropriations Clause, U. S. Const., Art. I, § 9, cl. 7, provides: "No money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law." In Knote v. United States, 95 U. S. 149 (1877), this Court held that the President could not order the Treasury to repay the proceeds from the sale of property forfeited by a convicted traitor who had been pardoned. But the Government—implicitly in its brief and explicitly at oral argument, see Tr. of Oral Arg. 37-39—now goes further, maintaining that, absent an appropriation, any funds that find their way into a Treasury account must remain there, regardless of their origin or ownership. Such a rule would lead to seemingly bizarre results. The Ninth Circuit recently observed: "If, for example, an
5 We note that on October 28, 1992, the President signed the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992, 106 Stat. 3672. Section 1521 of that Act (part of Title XV, entitled the Annunzio-Wylie Anti-Money Laundering Act) significantly amended 28 U. S. C. § 1355 to provide, among other things:
"In any case in which a final order disposing of property in a civil forfeiture action or proceeding is appealed, removal of the property by the prevailing party shall not deprive the court of jurisdiction. Upon motion of the appealing party, the district court or the court of appeals shall issue any order necessary to preserve the right of the appealing party to the full value of the property at issue, including a stay of the judgment of the district court pending appeal or requiring the prevailing party to post an appeal bond." 106 Stat. 4062-4063.
Needless to say, we do not now interpret that statute or determine the issue of its retroactive application to the present case.
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