Who holds the power of the purse in Washington today?

Congress traditionally has guarded its power of the purse jealously. Article I of the U.S. Constitution says that “no money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in consequence of law.” The Antideficiency Act, which dates to 1870, makes it a crime for a federal government employee to spend money that has not been appropriated by Congress. And the Impoundment Control Act of 1974, passed after President Richard Nixon refused to spend funds Congress had appropriated, says that the president must spend the sums Congress has approved unless he submits a formal rescission request and Congress approves it. President Trump and the White House budget director, Russell Vought, say that 1974 law is unconstitutional, stirring a debate over who actually holds the power of the federal purse.

On April 16, the Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy at Brookings discussed the history of the power of the purse and the legal, political, and economic issues surrounding the current debate over the control of federal spending. Participants were Josh Chafetz, professor of law and politics, Georgetown Law School; Keith Kennedy, former staff director, Senate Appropriations Committee; Michael McConnell, professor and director of the Constitutional Law Center at Stanford Law School, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, and a former federal appellate court judge; and Eloise Pasachoff, professor of law, Georgetown Law School. David Wessel, director of the Hutchins Center, will moderate.

Viewers asked questions in advance by emailing [email protected] and on X @BrookingsEcon using #PowerofthePurse.