The chairmen, nicknamed "the college of cardinals" by their colleagues, have the power to distribute billions of dollars a year to favored programs.

Russia is still holding out hope that it can persuade the International Monetary Fund to distribute billions in more aid.

In recent decades Congress has used it to distribute billions in grants by population formulas.

"Under the current system, you can distribute billions in noncash benefits and it does not count."

Each year the federal government distributes billions of dollars in grants and loans to organizations throughout the United States.

They hope to distribute billions of light bulbs.

States also use the census for legislative mapping, and governments use it to distribute billions in grants and benefits.

Poverty is also a factor in the formulas for distributing billions of Federal dollars to state and local governments for education and other purposes.

In addition, the administration intends to accelerate conservation efforts by distributing billions of dollars to private landowners for the preservation of wetlands and wildlife habitats.

Census data is used to distribute billions of federal dollars and to redraw Congressional and state legislative districts.