In order to reduce the deficit and control inflation, former President Trump promised to exercise the now-restricted presidential authority of impoundment.
“Through a process called impoundment, the president has had the legal authority to halt needless expenditure for over two centuries under our government system,” according to Trump.
Since the time of the Founding Fathers, presidents have utilized the impoundment authority, notably Thomas Jefferson, to halt congressionally allocated monies.
“An ‘impoundment’ is any action or omission by a federal official or employee that prevents the obligation or spending of budget power,” as defined by the Government Accountability Office (GAO).
When fighting “one of America’s most liberal Congresses,” President Richard Nixon attempted “aggressively” to imprison expenditures. In response, Congress passed the Budget Control Act of 1974, which gave them the majority of the budgetary authority.
In order to control inflation, Trump pledged to resurrect the historically-used presidential spending impoundment power:
“As soon as I return to the White House, I will make every effort to have the Impoundment Control Act struck down by a judge and, if necessary, by Congress. We’ll reverse it.”
“Then, I’ll apply the president’s well-known impoundment power to compress the overgrown federal bureaucracy in order to make significant savings. For you, this will take the shape of lower taxes. This will hasten the reduction of the deficit and the stopping of inflation.”
“I will issue an order to all government agencies on Day One to start identifying sizable portions of their budgets that may be saved via efficiency and waste reduction through impoundment in order to be ready for this scenario.”
When Trump suspended funding to Ukraine without informing legislators, Democrats charged him with breaching the impoundment Control Act. This charge was a minor factor in Trump’s first impeachment hearing.
43 governors have the authority to imprison spending, according to Wall Street Journal columnist Daniel Henninger, who also noted that presidents like Franklin Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln, Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy, Lydon Baines Johnson, George W. Bush, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama have either used or supported impoundment.
Impoundment is the only option to get back to a balanced budget, according to the 45th president:
“Also crucial, bringing back Impoundment would provide us a vital tool with which to destroy the Deep State, Drain the Swamp, as well as starve the Warmongers — these people who want wars everywhere; murdering, murdering, murdering, they love committing murder — and the Globalists out of government,” Trump writes.”
“The Globalists and Warmongers will be removed from our administration,” Trump declared.
He continued, “This policy is anti-Swamp, anti-inflation, anti-globalist—and it’s pro-growth, pro-American, pro-taxpayer, and pro-freedom.”
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