They Have No Guts

I was reading an article in the Christian Science Monitor about how Trump has warped the presidency.

In Washington, a profound shift in how taxpayer money is spent. Will it last?

By Caitlin Babcock 

May 28, 2026

Just about anything a president wants to do – such as go to war, start an infrastructure project, or strengthen law enforcement – requires financing from Congress.

But increasingly, the government’s money hasn’t been going where Congress says it should.

The Trump administration is using unprecedented tactics to test the boundaries of how it can control taxpayer money that Congress has budgeted, threatening one of Congress’ core functions under the Constitution – and one of its strongest checks on executive power.

The efforts are a direct assertion of presidential power, often wielded in the name of taming wasteful spending. But the actions also reach into Congress itself.

Under presidential pressure, Congress is slowly upending its own spending process, passing party-line bills that circumvent its normal, bipartisan procedure and give presidents broader leeway. For example, Republicans hope to soon pass a bill that will fund federal immigration enforcement for years in advance.

But this is the result of a Congress that has no backbone. What we need is to elect people who listen to the voters and not to Trump. I don't even call it the "Republican party" anymore because it is non-existent.

Article I, Section 9, Clause 7 of the U.S. Constitution states: "No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law." This and the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 both make illegal what Trump is doing. But if the Republicans in Congress ignore the laws, Trump becomes a dictator... a King!

Still, the practice signals a profound shift in how money is spent, raising questions over how or whether taxpayers can hold the government accountable and whether more White House control over spending will become a “new normal” that permanently expands a president’s power.

In Congress, even some members of President Trump’s party aren’t entirely comfortable with the transfer of spending authority.

“Retaining our constitutional authority has always been something that I see as important, and hopefully my colleagues do, too. So I hope that we maintain a balance,” says Republican Rep. Dan Newhouse of Washington, who sits on the House Appropriations Committee. “Or else we become more and more irrelevant.”

Why can this happen? The Impoundment Control Act of 1974 was passed specifically because President Richard "Tricky Dick" Nixon kept refusing to spend money that Congress had allocated for programs he disliked. Congress stepped in to say, "No, if we pass it and appropriate the funds, you must spend it."

But this is happening because it takes a two-thirds majority to convict him. The House only needs a simple majority to impeach him, but the Senate needs a two-thirds vote to convict. As a result, Trump can get away with all the stuff he has been pushing.

Mr. Trump and his executive branch have asserted the power to spend as well as to cut, in ways that Congress hasn’t authorized. Emergency declarations over immigration and energy paved the way for sending military reservists to the Southern border and promoting fossil fuel development.

Trump knows that he has instilled a fear of losing their reelections that keeps them prostrating themselves to him. But he is losing his grip on them with his polling numbers in the 30s. Some of them smell blood in the polls and want to see who to hitch their wagon to: Trump or the voters?