FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Date: Jan. 17, 2025
PRESS CONTACT:
maddy@focalpointstrategygroup.com
ICYMI: Impoundments in the Spotlight in First Week of Nomination Hearings
Congressional Integrity Project Launched “Checks and Balances War Room” to Oppose Overreach in the Budget Reconciliation Process
OMB Director Nominee Russ Vought Was Skewered For His Support of Impoundment
During Hearings, Senators on Both Sides of the Aisle Decried Impoundments
Washington, DC — Republican efforts to usurp Congress’ authority on spending took center stage this week as Republican nominees were grilled on potential plans to use impoundment — and the Congressional Integrity Project launched a new war room to oppose the effort.
As President Trump prepares to take office, he and his allies have a clear plan to undermine our nation’s separation of powers by trying to wrest that authority away from Congress. This overreach of power known as impoundment — where the president declines to spend money appropriated by Congress — is unconstitutional. But Trump’s nomination of Russ Vought – who spent the past four years writing a playbook for using impoundment – for Office of Management and Budget Director shows he will pursue a radical and unconstitutional expansion of Presidential authority. During the first Trump Administration, Vought famously led impoundments on aid to Ukraine and held back hurricane aid for Puerto Rico, drawing concerns that Vought might do the same for Los Angeles wildfire relief if confirmed.
In Case You Missed it:
- Congressional Integrity Project launched “Checks and Balances War Room” to oppose overreach — like impoundments.
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- Impoundment occurs when the president declines to spend money Congress has appropriated and enacted into law. This practice has always been unconstitutional — but Trump made the power of impoundment a priority in his agenda.
- Impoundment took center stage during the first round of Congressional hearings, particularly for impoundment advocate and OMB director nominee Russ Vought.
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- WATCH: Impoundment advocate Russ Vought was skewered by Senator Gary Peters for dodging questions on impoundments, challenged Supreme Court precedent that impoundment is unconstitutional, and defended his attempts to impound spending during the first Trump administration.
- WATCH: Russ Vought refused to commit to distribute funds for a bipartisan program to prevent opioid overdoses.
- Senators on both sides of the aisle decried impoundments.
- Sen. Rand Paul said during the hearing, “The power of the purse is Congress […]I think if we appropriate something for a cause, that’s where it’s supposed to go.”
Read More:
- Politico Inside Congress: Dems Assemble for ‘Budget War’
- A team of former Democratic aides on Monday launched a “war room” to fight Republican “overreach” as the GOP tries to pass its mammoth party-line bill (or bills) this year.
- The group, which is within the Congressional Integrity Project and is called the “Checks and Balances War Room,” wants to highlight how Americans could be hurt by Trump administration plans to impound money Congress has passed. It also aims to fight for “full and fair” considerations of bills and nominees.
- Four notable congressional alumni headline the roster, including Charlie Ellsworth, former budget and appropriations adviser for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. Ellsworth is joined by Alex McDonough and Zac Petkanas, who both worked for former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, along with Carianne Lee, former aide to appropriator Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.).
- New Republic: The Most Terrifying Answer in Trump’s Budget Chief Hearing
- Senators on both sides of the aisle took issue Wednesday with Donald Trump’s nominee to run the Office of Management and Budget, noting that Russell Vought’s evasive and bureaucratic nonanswers as to whether he’d obey the law while serving the country were alarming.
- Politico: Trump’s pick for budget chief echoes his ‘power of the purse’ dreams
- Russell Vought wouldn’t commit to having the federal government spend all the money Congress approves.
- Vought famously froze aid to Ukraine and Puerto Rico the first time he ran the Office of Management and Budget during the first Trump administration. Now that Trump is claiming so-called “impoundment” law is unconstitutional, senators in both parties are eager to hear Vought promise to spend federal cash as Congress intends.
- Even some Republican senators have said they are worried Trump will usurp Congress’ authority. “The power of the purse is Congress,” Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), chair of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said during Vought’s confirmation hearing.
- “I think if we appropriate something for a cause, that’s where it’s supposed to go,” Paul said. “And that will still be my position.”