Editor,
Our founding fathers shared a mutual hatred for King George III. This abhorrence was manifested in the intricate checks and balances elegantly woven into the fabric of the U.S. Constitution, ensuring no presidency operates with unbridled impunity. This protection was tested during the Nixon Administration when he placed a moratorium on congressional appropriations for subsidized housing, community development, and disaster assistance.
These executive office unconstitutional decrees resulted in the Impoundment Control Act (ICA) of 1974. It directs the president to submit a “special message” to Congress justifying any executive plans to curtail, restrict or redirect congressionally appropriated funds. Congress has 45 days to act on the request, if Congress fails to act, the president is lawfully bound to adhere to the original congressional fiduciary directives and must release any funds which have been frozen. The ICA passed the senate 75-0, veto proof.
On May 8, 2018, Trump sent a special message to Congress proposing $15.3 billion of rescissions from thirty-eight appropriations accounts. He revised his initial request on June 5, 2018, proposing $14.8 billion in rescissions from thirty-four appropriations accounts. The request failed to pass, and the funding was restored.
On January 14, 2021, just a week before leaving office, Trump sent a special message to Congress proposing $27.4 billion of rescissions from seventy-three appropriations accounts. A petty vindictive action imposing a 45-day freeze on programs assisting millions of American citizens.
Trump 2.0 has unilaterally decreed the ICA is unconstitutional. Refusing to abide by it, he has embarked on a slash and burn campaign. He signed executive orders freezing all foreign assistance funding for 90 days, the disbursement of all appropriated funding from the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, federal funding for sanctuary cities, and yet another directing all executive branch departments and agencies pause all grant, loan, and other financial assistance programs. All these actions are brazen flagrant violations of the ICA. As congress has abdicated any responsibility for enforcing the rule of law, the Judicial branch has emerged as the solitary bulwark protecting our democracy.
It is, however, worth noting that the first line in our Constitution is, “We the People.” Nixon, the only president to resign, did so because We the People by the millions, expressed our collective moral indignation in the streets and to our elected officials. A small price to pay to restore American Democracy as Reagan’s “Shining City Upon a Hill.”
Jack Gribble
Oak Harbor
