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WASHINGTON, D.C.—In a press conference on Capitol Hill today, Senator Angus King (I-ME), declared that President Donald Trump’s proposal to halt all federal grant and loan disbursement is unconstitutional. He cited Article 2 of the Constitution which clearly lays out the role of the President as an enforcer of the law. The “power of the purse” is included in Article 1 of the Constitution which declares that Congress – and in particular the House of Representatives—is responsible with the role of federal appropriations as a check on the Executive Branch. Therefore, the President does not have the ability to reappropriate federal spending without Congressional approval.

“This is a profound constitutional issue. What happened last night is the most direct assault on the authority of Congress, I believe, in the history of the United States. It is blatantly unconstitutional. Article Two does not give the executive the power to determine budgets or expenditures. That power is vested in [Article One] – in the Congress. And if this stands, then Congress may as well adjourn, because the implications of this is the executive can pick and choose which congressional enactments they will execute.

“The President took an oath the other day to faithfully execute the presidency of the United States. That means to execute the laws that are passed by Congress, not edicts passed by the Office of Management and Budget. So I hope and believe that our colleagues on all sides of the aisle will realize that this is not a political discussion. This is not a programmatic discussion. This is an institutional discussion that goes to the viability, authority, expertise and work that's based upon Article Three of the Constitution.

“This is just a usurpation of authority. As I say, I believe I've never seen anything quite like this in American history. Richard Nixon tried to do it. The Congress passed a specific statute which has been the concept, the basis of which has been upheld by the Supreme Court in Train versus New York, and to assert this power really renders the power of Congress a nullity. And as I say, I hope members of both sides of the aisle will realize this and stand up for the institution. James Madison said ‘the interests of the individuals will enable them or empower them to stand up for the interests of the institution.’

“And if this stands, this will redound to the detriment of both parties, whichever party is in charge. Imagine for a moment if Joe Biden did this or there was a Republican Senate, Republican Congress, and they passed a statute saying we want to fund Head Start and Joe Biden said, ‘No, I don't like Head Start. I'd rather put the money over here.’ We'd be hearing a lot of reaction, and the reaction should come from both sides.

“So as someone who has worked in the law and worked with the constitution for many, many years, I was stunned last night to see this order. I thought first it was a production of the Onion, because it's so grossly, blatantly unconstitutional and threatening to the foundation of the separation of powers under the Constitution.”

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