Congress Must Defend Its Constitutional Power of the Purse

I am writing to urge Congress to act immediately to protect its constitutional power of the purse following President Trump’s September 25, 2026 use of a “pocket rescission” to withhold more than $800 million that Congress had already appropriated. This is bigger than any one administration or any one spending program. Congress—not the President—holds the constitutional authority to appropriate federal funds. The Impoundment Control Act provides a process for a President to ask Congress to rescind funding, but it does not give the executive branch unilateral authority to cancel spending simply by waiting until the end of the fiscal year to submit the request. The Government Accountability Office has been explicit: pocket rescissions are not permitted under the Impoundment Control Act because they can allow a President to run out the clock, let appropriated funds expire, and effectively nullify spending laws without congressional approval. That should concern every member of Congress, regardless of party. A President should not be able to sign or inherit an appropriations law, disagree with portions of it, and then effectively erase Congress’s decision through timing. If Congress allows that precedent to stand, its appropriations power becomes dependent upon whether the executive branch chooses to honor it. I urge you to: • Demand the immediate release and lawful obligation of congressionally appropriated funds unless Congress itself votes to rescind them. • Support legislation making unmistakably clear that funds proposed for rescission must remain available long enough for Congress to exercise its full statutory authority. • Use Congress’s appropriations and oversight powers to prevent executive agencies from allowing legally appropriated funds to expire through deliberate withholding. • Defend the constitutional separation of powers regardless of which party controls the White House. This is not simply a dispute about $800 million. It is about whether laws passed by Congress remain binding on the executive branch. Congress must defend its own authority. Please act.