New York GOP Rep. Chris Collins is OK with President Trump taking over Congress’ power over monetary policy if it means punishing sanctuary cities for not assisting federal immigration authorities.
Collins said on CNN on Wednesday that controlling the flow of money to cities is the best way to influence their policies. He said Trump should be able to control that money, even if a federal district court judge says that’s lawmakers’ job.
“If you want to change policy, the quickest way to do it is through the purse strings and that is what the president is doing,” Collins said.
When asked if he’s OK with ceding the power of the purse, constitutionally given to Congress, to the executive branch, Collins said, “In the case of sanctuary cities, yes I am.”
Trump’s executive order threatening to withhold federal money from sanctuary cities was struck down Tuesday after a federal judge ruled it would cause irreparable harm to cities and violated federal law.
The White House slammed the decision, with Trump promising to appeal to the Supreme Court Wednesday morning, and Collins, who worked on the Trump transition team, followed suit.
He said Trump is tasked with reducing the amount of activism in the judiciary and make them respect the rule of law.
“We do have an activist court and I think President Trump, over the next four to eight years, is going to clean that up,” he said.
