Dem
53
Ties
2
GOP
45
We could have sworn this issue was resolved back in the 1970s. Richard Nixon decided he did not like some of the things that Congress had approved money for, and so he refused to spend the funds. The fancy term for this is "impoundment." Congress did not like his presumption one bit, and so passed the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 (ICA), which pointed out that it is Congress who has the power of the purse, and established that presidents have no right to refuse to spend appropriated funds. This bill has survived court challenges, most obviously the unanimous Supreme Court decision in Train v. City of New York (1975).
Donald Trump, of course, hates laws that constrain his power. And he loves loopholes. And OMB Director Russell Vought has found one... sort of. The loophole is called a "pocket recission." The ICA allows presidents to ask Congress to reconsider and withdraw funding. And upon such a request, Congress has 45 days to consider and respond. But if Congress is not in session, and if the end of the fiscal year is upon us (say, as of Thursday), then there isn't time for Congress to respond. Voila! The funding is cut, because there was no response! Very neat, right?
Consequently, over the weekend, Trump/Vought announced that about $800 million in funding was canceled. The announcement was titled "President Trump Takes Historic Action to Eliminate Wasteful and Harmful Spending" because, of course, everything Trump does is historic. You should see the historic way he empties his bladder every morning. In any case, the $800 million will be cut from the Pentagon's budget since that agency already has plenty of money for its needs.
Ha! Just kidding. The $800 million will, of course, be cut from—by and large—services for brown people. That includes $567 million for programs that provided services to refugees, asylum seekers, and other non-citizens; $70 million for grants and fellowships that help bring foreign students and faculty to the United States; $20 million for studying climate change and its impact on minority communities and $15 million for a Justice Department team whose responsibility is "preventing and resolving racial and ethnic tensions, incidents, and civil disorders, and in restoring racial stability and harmony."
Note that we wrote that this is a "sort of" loophole. The reason that we wrote that is that it is a real concept that conservative groups like the Heritage Foundation have drooled over for decades, but... it is illegal. This has been hashed out in court. The first link in this item is to a Government Accountability Office analysis that says it's plainly illegal. Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) is, of course, "concerned," and she also says it's illegal. Because her voters are not pleased at the President's maneuvering, and because she's chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Collins might actually act on her concern. And she has the backing of many other Senate Republicans, who are not pleased about Trump's imposition on their powers (some actual spine for once?) and are also not thrilled that he keeps insinuating himself into the elections in unhelpful ways. So, stay posted. (Z)