Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) addressed the Senate on Wednesday, accusing Senate Republicans of aiding President Donald Trump and the White House in usurping Congress’ constitutional authority over federal spending.
Warren stated she is opposed to participating in the appropriations process due to the Trump administration’s perceived erosion of Congress’s authority. She voiced concern that a bipartisan agreement on government funding, a mammoth undertaking Congress attempts every year to compile the federal government’s budget for the next fiscal year, couldn’t be trusted.
“I voted no on that funding bill because even if this bill becomes law, I don’t believe Donald Trump has any intention of following that law,” Warren said on the Senate floor, referring to the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill she voted against last week. “And I’m not willing to be a helpmate on another one of Donald Trump’s scams.”
The Massachusetts Democrat pointed to the White House and Office of Budget Management’s (OMB) actions since Trump took office, including its moves to illegally withhold congressionally approved funds. In some cases, the White House has used the rescissions process to force congressional Republicans to sign off on its decision to withhold those funds, an effort to give some legitimacy to the administration’s decision to pursue what is effectively impoundment.
Contesting President Trump’s Spending Authority
According to Warren, the administration’s past actions demonstrate a pattern of disregarding congressional spending laws. “Consider his administration’s track record of the past six months on congressional spending laws,” Warren said of the president. “First, Trump tried to freeze billions of dollars that American families and businesses count on — money that Congress set aside to support everything from food assistance programs to scientific research. Multiple federal judges blocked the illegal power grab, saying it blatantly violated the Constitution of the United States. Now, even Republicans are begging the administration to hand out the money for investments that Congress already passed and, by law, that their communities were promised.”
Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought has been the administration’s most outspoken defender on these issues, claiming that, per his interpretation of the law, the appropriations bills passed by Congress create a “ceiling” for the administration’s spending, but “not a floor.” Earlier this month, he said, the U.S. has an “executive branch ensuring that it is not cowing to a legislative branch’s understanding of its own authorities and powers” on spending.
GAO Rulings
The nonpartisan legislative branch agency Government Accountability Office has already issued three separate rulings saying the Trump administration violated the Impoundment Control Act by illegally withholding funds.
“Republicans in Congress are bowing down to Donald Trump and ratifying some of his worst efforts,” Warren said, pointing to the recent rescissions package Republicans passed — which clawed back billions in foreign aid and public media funding.
Concerns Over “Pocket Rescissions”
“And if that wasn’t bad enough, Trump is already plotting to use a shady loophole to defund even more programs, demanding cuts so late in the year that Congress doesn’t have time to do anything about it,” Warren continued, warning of the pocket rescissions gimmick the White House and OMB have indicated they are considering.
“Pocket rescissions” describes a loophole Vought and his allies believe they have found in the budgeting process that, they claim, allows them to declare congressionally approved funding rescinded if a rescissions package is sent to Congress close to the end of the fiscal year when funds will expire.
Vought’s views on the extent to which congressional appropriations are legally binding on the executive branch have been rejected by a wide range of legal experts. Whether his interpretation prevails will likely be a decision for the Supreme Court.
Looking Ahead
“Why should Democrats come to the table and negotiate in good faith and throw our support behind a quote-unquote bipartisan bill, only for Republicans to turn around after the deal is done and, somewhere down the line, delete any parts of the deal Trump doesn’t like?” Warren asked.
Warren also urged Democrats to use the power they have in the appropriations process — funding bills require 60 votes in the Senate, requiring some Senate Democrats to join the Republicans to successfully pass the bills — to get assurances that any government funding they will support would “include an agreement that they won’t take back that deal a few weeks later.”
“Our founders didn’t give the president the power to decide spending,” Warren said. “A king can decide anything he wants, but not a president. Donald Trump wants to be able to wake up and decide to cancel funding for public education, for transportation products, for medical research, for food inspectors, for anything, just because Donald Trump feels like it. And he wants the Republicans in Congress to roll over and let it happen. No checks, no balances. Just Trump playing King.”
