Top Democrat Exposes Trump’s Alleged Scheme to Raid Federal Funds

The leading Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee issued a stark warning on Friday, stating that President-elect Donald Trump intends to divert funds meant for “middle-class, working, and vulnerable families” by not using money allocated by Congress.

Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) expressed in a release that Trump’s tactic, referred to as “impoundment,” is both “misguided and unconstitutional.” She pointed out that “the Supreme Court, the Department of Justice, and the Government Accountability Office have all agreed—the Constitution does not grant the president the power to unilaterally withhold funds approved by Congress.”

“The responsibility of the president of the United States is to faithfully enforce the law,” DeLauro continued, “and this includes laws concerning appropriations.”

A newly released
fact sheet from the Democrats on the House Appropriations Committee highlights that “the Constitution assigns Congress the authority over financial decisions, and it does not provide any powers to the president to either temporarily or permanently impound—meaning to steal, withhold, or block—the expenditure of funds passed by Congress.”

“The Constitution wisely grants Congress the authority over financial matters,” the fact sheet reads. “Should the president possess the unilateral power to decide not to spend funds as Congress directs, then individuals depending on Social Security, Medicare, Veterans Medical Care, and other federally funded programs would be at the mercy of the executive branch. This would make it impossible for Americans to rely on the commitments made by Congress in spending laws.”

Trump has
explicitly promised to utilize impoundment to “cut down the oversized federal bureaucracy for significant savings,” a strategy supported by the billionaire duo he has chosen to lead a new commission aimed at reducing spending and regulations.

“We can just cut off the funding with impoundment,” Trump proclaimed in a campaign advertisement.

“They have no authority. Does anybody understand that?”

Following a meeting on Capitol Hill with GOP legislators, where Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy discussed their vision for the “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE),
The Washington Post reported that Republicans are “enthusiastic about expanding the president’s ability to impound—or refuse to spend—money authorized by Congress.”

“Musk and Ramaswamy expressed their eagerness to challenge the constitutional boundaries of Trump’s power to control spending decisions unilaterally,” the
Post noted, citing two anonymous lawmakers. “Republicans were mostly thrilled after the discussion that lasted over two hours.”

Experts suggest Trump’s approach to withhold federal funds could violate the 1974
Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act (ICA). According to Propublica‘s Molly Redden,
“the law prohibits presidents from obstructing spending due to policy disagreements.”

“This approach led to his first impeachment,” Redden noted. “During his first term, Trump delayed nearly $400 million in military assistance to Ukraine while pressuring President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to launch a corruption investigation into Joe Biden and his family. The U.S. Government Accountability Office later determined that his actions breached the Impoundment Control Act.”

Democrats on the House Budget Committee recently emphasized that “even though it was decided after the ICA was passed, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled in
Train v. City of New York that even without the ICA, the president does not possess the unilateral authority to impound funds.”

This, however, has not deterred Trump, Musk, and Ramaswamy from exploring ways to limit or halt spending without congressional approval.

In an Wall Street Journal op-ed last month, Musk and Ramaswamy argued that “even without depending on” the viewpoint that the ICA is unconstitutional, “DOGE will target ending federal overspending by addressing the over $500 billion in annual federal expenditures that are either unauthorized by Congress or being utilized in ways Congress did not intend, from $535 million annually to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to $1.5 billion for international organization grants and nearly $300 million to progressive groups like Planned Parenthood.”

Programs such as housing assistance, childcare support, and student loan initiatives could also be at risk under this approach.

“They are aiming to cut $2 trillion,” DeLauro informed reporters on Thursday. “Consider the discretionary budget. It’s $1.7 trillion. Where are they planning to find the funds? Where?”

“They have no authority,” she reiterated. “Does anyone realize that?”