Democrats want reassurances from congressional Republican and the White House that Donald Trump's administration will actually spend money allocated as part of any new law preventing a government shutdown.
Congress has less than two weeks to agree on an extension to federal spending laws to keep the government operating, but Democrats are wary of the president and his advisers' arguments that he has the authority to withhold money that lawmakers have approved – especially after Elon Musk and his U.S. DOGE Service have unilaterally cut funding and jobs, reported the Washington Post.
“Money is just being pilfered," said said Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT). "They’re stealing funds that are supposed to go to American families and businesses. If we’re going to go through the agreement and get the topline and hammer it all out and someone comes along and upends it, that’s what we want to try to avoid.”
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Trump's budget chief Russell Vought, who was one of the chief architects of Project 2025, have argued that a post-Watergate law limiting the president's power to impound congressionally approved spending is unconstitutional, and House speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) told reporters last week that Democratic demands were a “gross separation of powers violation and a terrible precedent for Congress to engage in.”
“That’s a nonstarter for us, and the Democrats know that," Johnson said. "So it looks like they’re in a posture right now where they’re making individual appropriations bills almost impossible. I’m really hopeful that they’ll back off those outrageous demands because it’s unprecedented and I think probably unconstitutional, and it’s not anything we’ll be a part of.”
Democrats hold significant leverage, however, because Johnson must rely on their votes to avert a shutdown, and it's not clear that Republicans have united around a spending agreement that did not significantly cut spending, and Senate Democrats say they will insist the White House comply with the 1974 Impoundment Control Act before voting on a budget deal.
“The law exists and the law has been upheld," said Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI), "and as far as I’m concerned, that’s the end of the conversation."