Sign the petition to Congress: Defend your Constitutional right to approve all spending and spending cuts
All imembers of the 119th Congress (2025-2027)
Donald Trump has brought on tech moguls Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy as unpaid, outside consultants to run an effort known as the Department of Government Efficiency, tasked with reducing federal spending.
Now, I am not necessarily opposed to increased government efficiency. In fact, one of the main reasons I founded Bowers News Media was to try and create a smaller, more efficient pro-Democratic and pro-democracy grassroots organization, one where the small dollars supporting the organization weren't eaten up by meetings, trainings, managing, travel, conferences, HR, PR, copyediting, consultants, fancy tech tools or performance reviews.
However, a bedrock principle of American democracy is checks and balances. That is why Congress–not the president and certainly not outside consultants–approves all spending and all spending cuts. Neither Donald Trump, nor the Department of Government Efficiency, have any constitutional right to not spend money appropriated by Congress and signed into law by the president. This was clarified half a century ago by the Impoundment Control Act of 1974, which was passed in response to an attempt by Richard Nixon to not spend funds which Congress had appropriated:
Given Donald Trump's autocratic tendencies, it should come as no surprise that he has vowed to challenge the Impoundment Control Act and, in his own words, "fight to restore the president's historic impoundment power." In this fight, Trump has the backing of Musk and Ramaswamy, who both believe that the Supreme Court will side with them.
Further, Russell Vought, who is Trump's director for the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), has all but promised that Trump will use impoundment to simply not spend money that Congress appropriates:
Given all of this, there can be little question that Trump will try to simply not spend funds that are appropriated by Congress. This promises to be a major fight in the coming months, one with the potential to degrade our democracy by eroding our system of checks and balances. It is imperative the members of Congress of both parties fight against any attempt to erode their power over federal spending.
Please sign the petition to Congress: Defend your Constitutional right to approve all spending and spending cuts.
As one of his constituents, I will deliver the signatures on this petition to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer via email.
Now, I am not necessarily opposed to increased government efficiency. In fact, one of the main reasons I founded Bowers News Media was to try and create a smaller, more efficient pro-Democratic and pro-democracy grassroots organization, one where the small dollars supporting the organization weren't eaten up by meetings, trainings, managing, travel, conferences, HR, PR, copyediting, consultants, fancy tech tools or performance reviews.
However, a bedrock principle of American democracy is checks and balances. That is why Congress–not the president and certainly not outside consultants–approves all spending and all spending cuts. Neither Donald Trump, nor the Department of Government Efficiency, have any constitutional right to not spend money appropriated by Congress and signed into law by the president. This was clarified half a century ago by the Impoundment Control Act of 1974, which was passed in response to an attempt by Richard Nixon to not spend funds which Congress had appropriated:
[T]he Impoundment Control Act of 1974, specifies that the president may request that Congress rescind appropriated funds. If both the Senate and the House of Representatives have not approved a rescission proposal (by passing legislation) within forty-five days of continuous session, any funds being withheld must be made available for obligation. Congress is not required to vote on the request and has ignored most presidential requests.A related Supreme Court case, Train vs City of New York, was upheld by a majority of 8-1 in 1975, although admittedly the Supreme Court has undergone a significant ideological shift over the last five decades.
Given Donald Trump's autocratic tendencies, it should come as no surprise that he has vowed to challenge the Impoundment Control Act and, in his own words, "fight to restore the president's historic impoundment power." In this fight, Trump has the backing of Musk and Ramaswamy, who both believe that the Supreme Court will side with them.
Further, Russell Vought, who is Trump's director for the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), has all but promised that Trump will use impoundment to simply not spend money that Congress appropriates:
Vought in an interview with Fox Business last year said the “loss of impoundment authority” was “the original sin in eliminating the ability from a branch on branch to control spending.”This is not an idle threat from Vought. When he directed the OMB from 2019-2021 under the first Trump administration, $21.4 million of security aid to Ukraine was withheld.
“We’re going to need to bring that back,” he said.
Given all of this, there can be little question that Trump will try to simply not spend funds that are appropriated by Congress. This promises to be a major fight in the coming months, one with the potential to degrade our democracy by eroding our system of checks and balances. It is imperative the members of Congress of both parties fight against any attempt to erode their power over federal spending.
Please sign the petition to Congress: Defend your Constitutional right to approve all spending and spending cuts.
As one of his constituents, I will deliver the signatures on this petition to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer via email.
Sponsored by
To:
All imembers of the 119th Congress (2025-2027)
From:
[Your Name]
The president does not have the constitutional authority to impound or otherwise not spend money appropriated by Congress. Please defend he Impoundment Control Act in court if it is challenged by the Trump administration.