1. United States
2. Mo.
3. Letter

I am writing to express my absolute opposition to Russell Vought’s latest attempt to expand executive power at the expense of Congress and the American people. The Washington Monthly’s August 13 article, “Congress Should Stop Russ Vought’s Latest Power Grab,” lays out exactly what is at stake. Vought’s proposed changes to the federal grantmaking process would inject political review into decisions that Congress has already authorized and would give the administration broad discretion to terminate grants based on whether they align with the president’s political agenda. That is not accountability. That is executive overreach. Congress controls the power of the purse. When Congress appropriates funds for programs and directs agencies to carry out those programs, the executive branch does not get to simply disregard those decisions because the president or his political appointees disagree with them. The article also highlights an especially disturbing example: the Department of Energy acknowledged in court that OMB directed the cancellation of more than $7.5 billion in grants based solely on the political identity of the state where the recipient was located. If federal funding can be withheld because a state voted differently from the president, then federal government spending is no longer being administered according to law and public policy, it is being weaponized for political purposes. Russ Vought has repeatedly demonstrated that he believes the executive branch should have dramatically greater control over the federal government. This administration has already pushed the boundaries of congressional authority, attacked the federal workforce, attempted to dismantle agencies and programs, and treated congressional appropriations as though they were optional. You have a constitutional responsibility to push back. I am asking you to publicly oppose Russ Vought’s proposed grantmaking rules and to use every legislative and oversight tool available to Congress to prevent this administration from circumventing Congress’s constitutional power of the purse. This is bigger than one regulation or one administration. If Congress allows the executive branch to decide which congressional appropriations it will honor based on political loyalty, then Congress is surrendering one of its most fundamental constitutional powers. I urge you to stand up and say enough. Do your job. Defend the Constitution. Defend Congress’s power of the purse. And hold Russell Vought and this administration accountable for their continued attempts to concentrate power in the executive branch. The American people are watching to see whether Congress will actually defend its constitutional authority, or simply allow it to be taken away.