A rift is widening between the White House and Republican lawmakers over the government funding bills they're writing, and which president Donald Trump has signaled he might ignore.
Congressional Republicans have generally hesitated to speak out against the president's funding freezes – known as "impoundment" – but defense hawks and other GOP lawmakers are gearing up for a showdown ahead of a fiscal cliff looming this fall and stoking fears of a government shutdown, reported Politico.
“I’ve got a real problem with impoundment,” Rep. Mike Simpson (R-ID), who chairs the House Appropriations panel that funds the Interior Department and the Environmental Protection Agency. “That’s like a line-item veto, and I think it’s illegal."
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Trump has spent the first months of his second presidency freezing billions of dollars in funding approved by Congress and signed into law by former president Joe Biden, but his first impeachment in 2019 was related to his scheme to hold back congressionally approved military aid to Ukraine, and the White House is looking to expand its impoundment powers.
“Obviously, we have never taken impoundment off the table, because the president and myself believe that 200 years of the president and Executive Branch had that ability,” said senior official with the Office of Management and Budget. “But we’re working with Congress to see what they will pass, and I believe that they have an interest in passing cuts.”
The president's budget proposal last week would keep the military's funding flat while adding $150 billion more through the budget congressional Republicans are hoping to pass this summer, but GOP lawmakers say the White House threats to withhold funding in excess of their request complicates negotiations.
“That’s a funny way to treat your friends,” said Rep. Mark Amodei (R-NV), another senior appropriator.
Republicans need Democratic voters to pass their funding bills in the Senate, but Trump's impoundment threats could cause them to declare it's useless to negotiate under those conditions, and some GOP senators see a high-stakes showdown on the horizon to determine whether the 51-year-old impoundment law is constitutional.
“I think the goal is the Supreme Court,” said Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), who told the OMB last month that he doesn't believe Trump has the impoundment authority that he claims.
“It’s a reasonable question to ask, and it’s never been all the way to the Supreme Court,” Paul added, "and of course, everybody has to adhere to what the final decision will be.”
