Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) said Monday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” that President Donald Trump was violating of The Impoundment Control Act passed in 1974.
Co-host Joe Scarborough said, “So since you’re on the Appropriations Committee, you’re the perfect person to ask. Is the continued impoundment by DOGE of funds authorized and appropriated by Congress, is that a constitutional violation of Article I powers?”
Baldwin said, “It absolutely is. And it is so clear in Article I that Congress makes the laws, passes the budgets and the appropriation bills. And it is the administration, the president, who implements and administers those. And we’re seeing conflict there, started with that federal funding freeze, and of course, lawsuits were filed immediately, but the harm occurred. We had head starts in Wisconsin that closed 250 families in Waukesha, Wisconsin, displaced for a week because they couldn’t access the federal funding to run their head start program. And in the courts, of course, we got a stay of those freezes. We got a rescission of the OMB directive.”
Scarborough said, “So I don’t wanna get too deep in the weeds, but I think this is important for viewers to know not only does this seem to be unconstitutional because these are these are Article I powers, it also breaks the law when the impoundment law, when Nixon tried to impound funds. Congress passed a law in 1974, the Impoundment Act of 74, that explicitly states, a president can’t do this.”
Baldwin said, “Exactly and I think they are trying to break it, to create a case that they ultimately bring up to the Supreme Court. And I hope the Supreme Court would stand firmly with Article I and The Impoundment Act.”
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