On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Loren L. AliKhan blocked President Donald Trump’s attempt to freeze spending programs authorized by Congress. In our three branches of government, Congress sets the budget and the executive branch implements it. The executive does not have the authority to override Congressional budget allocations, either up or down.
On Monday, Trump halted loans and grants to nonprofits such as Meals on Wheels, state Medicare departments and public schools, to list only a few affected. The National Council of Nonprofits brought the lawsuit. Although Trump attorneys stated Medicaid was exempt from the order, as many as 20 states reported being locked out of the Medicaid portal.
Also on Tuesday, “Democratic attorneys general from 22 states and the District of Columbia filed their own lawsuit seeking to block and permanently prevent the administration from cutting off federal funding.”
The lawsuit asserts the Trump Administration is violating “the Constitution and the Administrative Procedure Act by halting congressionally approved spending without legal authority.”
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes told reporters, “We spoke to one top law enforcement official in Arizona who said, quote, ‘this devastates law enforcement.’ I spoke to one of the most conservative sheriffs in Arizona this morning, and he said, and I quote, ‘this is bullsh*t.’”
Congress constrained the president’s authority to manipulate the budget in response to President Richard Nixon’s acts in the 1970s. Presidential freezing of funds is called impoundment; Trump withheld funds for Ukraine “as leverage to pressure President Volodymyr Zelensky into investigating Joe Biden.” That led to his first impeachment.
Congress forbade it in a 1974 law called the Impoundment Control Act. This measure—enacted in response to President Richard Nixon’s unprecedented abuse of impoundment—strictly limits the executive branch’s authority to withhold appropriated funds. It bars the president from ever impounding “mandatory” spending, including health care programs and Social Security, that’s appropriated indefinitely.
The executive branch does not have the authority to interrogate Congressional budget items. However, that is what they are doing:
The full scope of the administration’s review was spelled out in a 51-page spreadsheet sent to federal agencies and viewed by The Associated Press. Each line was a different government initiative, from pool safety to tribal workforce development to special education.
Officials were directed to answer a series of yes or no questions for every item on the list, including “does this program promote gender ideology?” or “does this program promote or support in any way abortion?” Responses are due by Feb. 7.
Last week, a judge blocked Trump’s attempt to end birthright citizenship (granting citizenship to all born in the U.S.).
Still up in the air: the illegal dismissal of inspectors general.
Known for gnawing at complex questions like a terrier with a bone. Digital evangelist, writer, teacher. Transplanted Southerner; teach newbies to ride motorcycles. @kegill (Twitter and Mastodon.social); wiredpen.com