Robert Reich - Under the U.S. Constitution, Congress holds the power of the purse, and Congress approved these payments.While Trump has the power to pause spending, subject to review, this isn’t really about pausing. It’s about stopping. That’s called “impounding.”
In 1974, Congress enacted the Impoundment Control Act, in response to Nixon’s abuses of power. The Act bars a president from not spending money Congress has appropriated.Trump believes the Impoundment Control Act is unconstitutional — but the Supreme Court determines what acts of Congress are not constitutional. And in the 1975 case of Train vs. City of New York, the Court unanimously upheld the constitutionality of the Act.
Apparently, Trump wants the current Supreme Court to reverse its 1975 ruling — something that the Court rarely does, especially when the original decision was unanimous. But, as it displayed in Roe v. Wade, the Roberts court has few compunctions about reversing itself.
Big picture: This is not a conservative ploy to shrink the size of government. It’s a neo-fascist ploy to concentrate even more power in Trump’s hands.
No comments:
Post a Comment