The Trump administration has engaged in systematic impoundment of congressionally appropriated funds throughout 2025 and 2026 — refusing to spend money that Congress directed be spent, in direct contravention of both the Impoundment Control Act of 1974 and the constitutional separation of powers. Led by OMB Director Russell Vought – Director, Office of Management and Budget, who has publicly stated his belief that the Impoundment Control Act is unconstitutional, the administration has deployed a range of tactics including grant freezes, “pocket rescissions,” removal of apportionment data from public view, and outright refusal to disburse congressionally authorized funds. By May 2026, the administration had withheld more than $2 billion in education funding alone and successfully used a pocket rescission to permanently eliminate $4.9 billion in foreign aid (Education Week, May 2026; Christian Science Monitor, May 2026).

This policy represents the most significant challenge to Congress’s “power of the purse” since the Nixon era — and the administration’s explicit goal is to overturn the legal framework that was established to prevent exactly this kind of executive overreach.

Legal and Constitutional Background

Article I, Section 9, Clause 7: “No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law.” The Constitution assigns the power of the purse exclusively to Congress. The President’s constitutional duty, under the Take Care Clause (Art. II, § 3), is to “take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed” — including appropriations laws.

The Nixon Precedent: In the early 1970s, President Richard Nixon impounded billions in congressionally appropriated funds for programs he opposed, including clean water funding. The Supreme Court unanimously rejected Nixon’s authority to do so in Train v. City of New York, 420 U.S. 35 (1975), holding that the President lacks authority to withhold funds Congress has appropriated. Every impoundment case decided during the Nixon era reached the same conclusion (The Constitutional Observer, 2026).

The Impoundment Control Act of 1974: In direct response to Nixon’s impoundments, Congress passed the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 (Pub. L. No. 93-344, Title X). The law permits the President two narrow options:

• Rescission: The President may propose canceling appropriated funds, but Congress must affirmatively approve the cancellation within 45 days. If Congress does not act, the funds must be released.
• Deferral: The President may propose delaying the expenditure of funds, but Congress may override the deferral.
• What the ICA does not authorize is the unilateral, indefinite withholding of appropriated funds without following either statutory pathway (Lawfare, 2025; The Constitutional Observer, 2026).

The Administration’s Position: Russell Vought – Director, Office of Management and Budget and the Trump administration argue that the Impoundment Control Act is unconstitutional — that the President has inherent constitutional authority to refuse to spend appropriated funds. This position directly contradicts the unanimous Supreme Court precedent in Train and the subsequent ICA (The Dispatch, 2025).

Timeline of Key Actions

• 1974: Congress passes the Impoundment Control Act, codifying the prohibition on presidential impoundment.
• 1975: Supreme Court unanimously rules in Train v. City of New York that the President cannot withhold congressionally appropriated funds.
• 2024 Campaign: Trump pledges to “use the president’s long-recognized Impoundment Power to squeeze the bloated federal bureaucracy for massive savings” and to “restore executive branch impoundment authority” (The Dispatch, 2025).
• January 20, 2025: Trump signs executive order pausing disbursement of funds appropriated through the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (The Dispatch, 2025).
• January–February 2025: Administration freezes federal grants across multiple agencies. A sweeping OMB memo temporarily freezes all federal grants and loans, creating widespread confusion before being partially rescinded (Lawfare, 2025).
• 2025: OMB issues a revised Circular A-11 asserting greater power to “rescind, withhold, or delay” congressional appropriations. The circular states that amounts proposed for rescission may be withheld for 45 days “regardless of when during the fiscal year the rescission is proposed” — the foundation for the pocket rescission strategy (Lawfare, 2025).
• Mid-2025: OMB removes all apportionment documents from its website, eliminating public visibility into how appropriated funds are being distributed. Protect Democracy and other transparency advocates sue to restore access (Education Week, May 2026).
• August 2025: The administration submits a $4.9 billion rescission request for USAID funding with fewer than 45 days remaining in the fiscal year. Because the 45-day review period extends past the September 30 appropriation expiration, the funds are effectively frozen until they lapse — a “pocket rescission” that converts the ICA’s congressional-review mechanism into an executive-veto mechanism (The Constitutional Observer, 2026; Lawfare, 2025; Christian Science Monitor, May 2026).
• September 2025: The GAO concludes that the pocket rescission maneuver is unlawful. Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, states that the pocket rescission violates the ICA and Article I of the Constitution (The Constitutional Observer, 2026).
• Fall 2025: The Supreme Court allows the pocket rescissions to proceed with a preliminary ruling that the plaintiffs (foreign assistance organizations) did not have standing to sue. The unsigned ruling states it “should not be read as a final determination on the merits” (Lawfare, 2025).
• Fall 2025: A court orders OMB to resume publishing apportionment documents and the spending plans it requires from agencies (Education Week, May 2026).
• February 2026: Congress belatedly approves a fiscal 2026 budget for the Department of Education. OMB fails to “apportion” (release) more than $2 billion in education funding that Congress approved (Education Week, May 2026).
• May 2026: More than $1 billion in unapportioned Education Department funds will expire and return to the Treasury if OMB does not release them within four months — likely constituting a violation of the Impoundment Control Act (Education Week, May 2026).
• 2026 (Ongoing): During a DHS shutdown, the administration pays employees using funds with a “reasonable and logical nexus” to DHS functions — giving the executive branch, not Congress, wide discretion to define which funds can be used for which purposes (Christian Science Monitor, May 2026).

Key Actors

• Russell Vought – Director, Office of Management and Budget — OMB Director. Co-author of Project 2025. Has publicly stated his belief that the Impoundment Control Act is unconstitutional and that the administration has “not impounded a single thing.” Architect of the pocket rescission strategy and the OMB circulars asserting expanded executive authority over appropriations (Education Week, May 2026; The Dispatch, 2025).
• Donald Trump — 45th and 47th President of the United States — Issued the inaugural-day executive order pausing disbursement of Inflation Reduction Act and Infrastructure Act funds. Campaigned on restoring “executive branch impoundment authority.”
• Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) — Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee. One of the few Republican voices publicly stating that the pocket rescission violates the ICA and Article I (The Constitutional Observer, 2026).
• Protect Democracy — Filed lawsuits to restore public access to OMB apportionment data and challenged the pocket rescission strategy.
• GAO (Government Accountability Office) — Concluded that the pocket rescission maneuver is unlawful under the ICA.

Legal Challenges

Pocket Rescission Litigation (Supreme Court): Foreign assistance organizations challenged the $4.9 billion pocket rescission of USAID funds. The Supreme Court allowed the rescissions to proceed on standing grounds — finding the plaintiffs could not demonstrate sufficient injury — without ruling on the merits. The unsigned ruling stated it “should not be read as a final determination on the merits” of pocket rescissions (Lawfare, 2025).

OMB Apportionment Transparency (D.D.C.): Protect Democracy and transparency advocates sued after OMB removed apportionment documents from its website. The court ordered OMB to continue publishing apportionment documents and the spending plans it requires from agencies (Education Week, May 2026).

The Standing Problem: The Supreme Court’s preliminary ruling on pocket rescissions highlighted a critical challenge: it may be difficult for private plaintiffs to establish standing to enforce the Impoundment Control Act. If private parties cannot sue, and Congress chooses not to, there may be no effective judicial enforcement mechanism — leaving the constitutional prohibition on impoundment toothless.

Constitutional Challenge to the ICA: While no court has ruled the Impoundment Control Act unconstitutional, the administration has explicitly invited such a ruling. The legal precedent (Train v. City of New York, 1975) is strong: the Supreme Court unanimously held that the President cannot withhold appropriated funds. However, the current Court has shown willingness to reconsider long-standing precedents.

Impact Assessment

Education: More than $2 billion in congressionally approved education funding withheld by OMB as of May 2026, affecting Title I grants for low-income schools, IDEA special education funding, career and technical education programs, and other programs (Education Week, May 2026).

Foreign Aid: $4.9 billion in USAID funding permanently eliminated through the pocket rescission strategy, affecting humanitarian operations worldwide (The Constitutional Observer, 2026).

Infrastructure: Funds appropriated through the Inflation Reduction Act and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act paused on inauguration day, delaying climate, clean energy, and infrastructure projects across the country.

Separation of Powers: The fundamental constitutional issue is whether the executive branch can unilaterally decide not to spend money that Congress has directed be spent. If the answer is yes, Congress’s “power of the purse” — described by James Madison as the “most complete and effectual weapon with which any constitution can arm the immediate representatives of the people” (Federalist No. 58) — becomes meaningless.

Historical Parallel: Trump’s first impeachment (2019) centered on withholding congressionally appropriated military aid to Ukraine as leverage to extract a political favor. The principle at issue was the same: the President cannot condition the release of congressionally appropriated funds on compliance with his personal political objectives.

State-Level Responses

• States have been directly affected by the withholding of education, infrastructure, and environmental funds appropriated by Congress.
• State attorneys general have participated in lawsuits challenging grant freezes and impoundment actions.
• The downstream effects of withheld federal funds include delayed infrastructure projects, reduced school funding, and disrupted health and social service programs at the state and local level.

For Trump Supporters: Questions Worth Considering

The Founders gave Congress the power of the purse because they did not trust any single person — not even the President — to decide alone how the people’s money is spent. If this president can refuse to spend money Congress appropriated for programs you don’t like, the next president can refuse to spend money Congress appropriated for programs you do like — border security, military readiness, veterans’ services. The question is not whether you agree with how Congress spends money. The question is whether you want any president to have the unilateral power to override Congress’s spending decisions without any check or oversight.

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Sources

1. Education Week, “White House Blocks $2 Billion for Education: See All the Affected Programs,” May 2026. https://www.edweek.org/policy-politics/white-house-blocks-2-billion-for-education-see-all-the-affected-programs/2026/05
2. The Constitutional Observer, “The Executive as Legislature: Constitutional Structure and the Second Trump Administration’s Systematic Displacement of Congressional Authority,” 2026. https://the-constitutional-observer.ghost.io/the-executive-as-legislature-constitutional-structure-and-the-second-trump-administrations-systematic-displacement-of-congressional-authority/
3. The Dispatch, “Shattering the Separation of Powers,” Jessica Riedl, 2025. https://thedispatch.com/article/trump-spending-impoundement-congress-unconstitutional/
4. Lawfare, “Trump Is Usurping Congress’s Power of the Purse,” 2025. https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/trump-is-usurping-congress-s-power-of-the-purse
5. Christian Science Monitor, “In Washington, a profound shift in how taxpayer money is spent. Will it last?” May 28, 2026. https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2026/0528/trump-congress-spending-authority
6. Train v. City of New York, 420 U.S. 35 (1975).
7. Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974, Pub. L. No. 93-344, Title X, 88 Stat. 332.
8. U.S. Const., Art. I, § 9, cl. 7.
9. U.S. Const., Art. II, § 3 (Take Care Clause).
10. Federalist No. 58 (James Madison).