Can the president override Congress on spending?
19 February - 22 mins
Podcast Series
Planet Money
So the president can't spend more money than Congress has agreed and voted to spend. But can the president spend less money than Congress wants?
It all comes down to something called "impoundment" and the Impoundment Control Act of 1974, which controls when and how a president can take away money Congress has appropriated.
President Trump followed the Impoundment Control Act rules back in 2018. But now, in his second term, he's saying he thinks that law is unconstitutional.
On this episode: the history of impoundment, from Thomas Jefferson to Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton. And what constitutional scholars and judges are saying after Trump attempted to dismantle a federal agency and freez...
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