What is impoundment and does President Trump have the right to do it?

All this hour we’re talking about the administration of President Donald Trump attempt to freeze federal grants and loans from going out – a move that caused mass confusion among government officials, hospital administrators, and non-profit leaders. It’s been blocked in court, and the administration has pulled back the memo that started this. But there are still many questions about what could have happened, and whether something like this could happen again.

According to the Government Accountability Office, The Impoundment Control Act of 1974 created the procedural means by which the Congress considers and reviews executive branch withholdings of budget authority. It requires the President to report promptly to the Congress all withholdings of budget authority and to abide by the outcome of the congressional impoundment review process.

Guests:

David Merriman
James J. Stukel Presidential Professor in the College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs at the University of Illinois at Chicago
Co-Lead, Fiscal and Economic Policy Working Group, Institute of Government and Public Affairs

Alicia Uribe-McGuire
Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign