Article 1, Section 9, Clause 7 of the U.S. Constitution says: “No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law.”
The President of the United States does not have unlimited authority to decline congressional appropriations and decide what gets funded and by how much depending on his whims and which political adversaries he wants to punish.
By hijacking congressionally appropriated funds, Donald Trump and Elon Musk (and his unqualified, unscreened team) are yanking funding from people and programs in our communities―which will have a real impact on many of our neighbors as they face frozen funding for critical human needs programs that people rely on to survive.
Congress must stand up to stop this lawless power grab.
In response to the massive public health and economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government has passed a historic $2.3 trillion relief and recovery package. The legislation enacted so far takes some important steps towards responding to the crisis. But it does not do enough, and Congress will have to return to ensure that the people most in need – and whose aid will do the most to spur recovery – get adequate help. Join CHN as we examine the good and the bad of what’s available so far, and the human needs that still must be addressed in a fourth package. We’ll discuss cash assistance, expanded benefits, help for nonprofits, and new programs such as Pandemic Unemployment Assistance. And we’ll let you know how you can take action to call on Congress to take the next steps needed.
If we cast aside any of us – whether incarcerated, homeless, immigrant, poor – it will hurt all of us. Congress may have dispersed, like all of us, but we still must work together to recover from this pandemic.
A captioned recording of this webinar along with the slides is available here.