President Trump’s stated plan to claw back government spending as a condition of signing the coronavirus relief and government funding bill is being met with a prompt dismissal from congressional Democrats, who are hardly taking his request seriously.
“The House Appropriations Committee has jurisdiction over rescissions, and our Democratic Majority will reject any rescissions submitted by President Trump,” House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Nita Lowey of New York said in a statement. “By turning the page on this request, we will allow the Biden-Harris administration to begin to ‘Build Back Better.’”
Trump on Sunday signed the coronavirus relief and government spending bill that he had previously hinted at vetoing after its passage, demanding $2,000 relief payments to the public rather than $600 and objecting to millions of dollars in foreign aid. Had he not signed the bill, funding for the government would have expired on Monday night.
In a Sunday statement about signing the bill, Trump said he would send “a strong message that makes clear to Congress that wasteful items need to be removed.”
“I will send back to Congress a redlined version, item by item, accompanied by the formal rescission request to Congress insisting that those funds be removed from the bill,” Trump said.
Any request from Trump, though, is dead on arrival since Democrats control the House. Federal law does not allow a line-item veto, making his statement on “redlined” measures all political posturing and no substance.
Under the Impoundment Control Act of 1974, the president can withhold certain types of funding for 45 legislative days after he sends a formal funding rescission request.
Trump has not yet sent a rescission request to Congress. But if and when he does, Congress is under no obligation to consider or vote on the measure. And with Joe Biden set to take office in a bit over three weeks, the time frame for funding theoretically being held could be much shorter.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Monday that Republican and Democratic objection to “pork” was just an excuse so that Republicans do not have to vote for the relief package.
Mostly, Democrats have ignored Trump’s stated plan to claw back funding. Instead, many are using his displeasure with $600 stimulus checks as a reason to push their own bill to increase the amount to $2,000, which is not expected to pass both chambers.
Congressional Republicans are mostly mum amount Trump’s stated forthcoming budget request, an additional sign that he has little political leverage on the matter. His most ardent supporters are more focused on the other issue Trump raised in his statement: Contesting the results of the 2020 election. Republican Rep. Louie Gohmert filed a lawsuit on Monday against Vice President Mike Pence in a last-ditch attempt to stop Congress from certifying Biden the winner of the presidential election.
Another complicating factor is that Trump’s objections to measures such as $25 million for democracy and gender programs in Pakistan and $40 million for the Kennedy Center conflict with his own budget request sent to Congress earlier this year, which asked for those amounts of money for those purposes.
Trump last sent a rescission request to Congress in 2018, when he requested $15.3 billion in cuts that included funds within the Children’s Health Insurance Program and the Energy Department’s Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing loan program. The then-Republican-controlled House approved the clawing back of funds, but the Senate rejected it. Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Richard Burr of North Carolina cast key votes against the measure that prevented it from passing.
