No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law; and a regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be published from time to time.
[The president] shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed…
| Administration Action | Why does this violate the Constitution? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| The EPA froze and terminated billions of dollars of grants that were allocated by Congress. | There is nothing in the Constitution that gives the Presidency the power to override Congressional spending mandates. | |
| Suspended the activities of the U.S. Agency for Global Media which oversees Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Radio Free Asia which were started to counter Communist propaganda. | The news group was established by Congress and, in March, a judge ruled that the administration must continue funding the agency. As of early April, the agency had not received its funds. Instead, it has been announced that the outlet will air reports from One America News, a pro-Trump network. This is a violation of the Congressional charter for the agency to provide independent news. | |
| Signed an executive order to freeze grants that were promised to farms under the Inflation Reduction Act after the farmers entered into contracts with the expectation that they will receive the funding. | These funds were appropriated by Congress, and their suspension is a violation of the separation of powers. | |
| Signed an executive order cutting $11.4 billion to state and local health departments and health organizations. | Congress appropriated this money during the COVID-19 Pandemic and the president does not have the authority to overturn Congressional spending. | |
| Attempted to shut down three Congressionally-created federal agencies: the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the Minority Business Development Agency, and the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. | The president cannot unilaterally dismantle agencies created and funded by Congress and a judge has blocked the order. | |
| Attempted to cancel over $1.1 billion in Covid-related funding to K-12 schools. | This money was appropriated by Congress and the president cannot brazenly rescind federal funding. | |
| Terminated over 600 grants at the National Institutes of Health despite a court order blocking these actions. | There is nothing in the Constitution that gives the Presidency the power to override Congressional spending mandates. |