Demand Congress use its “power of the purse” to hold Trump accountable
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.
The number of children receiving child care funded by the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) fell to a 17-year low, according to the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP). The CCDBG is the primary source of federal funding for helping low-income families pay for child care, with…
Earlier this month, House Republicans unveiled what they described as a plan for “repealing and replacing” the Affordable Care Act. The plan, however is not really a plan. It comes with no price tag, no explanation of how many million Americans would lose their current coverage, of how much more…
Editor’s note: Congress is considering repeal of the Affordable Care Act, and is debating major structural changes, and perhaps significant cuts, to Medicaid, which serves almost 70 million Americans. Voices for Human Needs is reaching out and telling the stories of those who could be harmed if the ACA is…
Congress is currently in its first recess of the year. CHN just released our latest edition of the Human Needs Report, with a look at what members tackled before the break, and what’s waiting for them when they return on Feb. 27. Read on for articles on FY17 & FY18…
Editor’s note: Congress is considering repeal of the Affordable Care Act, and is debating major structural changes, and perhaps significant cuts, to Medicaid, which serves almost 70 million Americans. Voices for Human Needs is reaching out and telling the stories of those who could be harmed if the ACA is…
The first recess period for the new Congress begins this Saturday, Feb. 18, and runs through Sunday, Feb. 26. Several of CHN’s members and friends have put together resources for advocates to use during this recess when members of Congress will be home in their states and districts. Use these…
Joan Claybrook, head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration during the Carter administration, had an immediate reaction when informed of President Trump’s executive order requiring that federal agencies scrap two existing regulations for every new one adopted. She burst out laughing. “That’s a completely illogical way of doing things,”…
According to the Washington Post, the Pentagon buried an internal study that found $125 billion in administrative waste because it was afraid Congress would use the findings to cut the defense budget. Despite this, the Trump Administration and some members of Congress are preparing to give even more money to…
There’s a developing narrative across the country: The protests are working. On many issues of concern to the human needs community, ranging from health care to immigration to efforts to fighting discrimination, a hostile executive branch finds itself backtracking and on the defensive. Perhaps the first journalist to take note…
Congress has been in session for just over a month now, and the Trump Administration is just a couple of weeks old. CHN just released our latest edition of the Human Needs Report, with a look at what they’ve been up to – and how advocates have responded – in…
Seven-year old Laney, who lives across the courtyard from me, attended the Woman’s March in Chicago with her mother. Her comments afterwards were that there were lots of people, most of them were women and she was proud to be there. That memory could last for her entire lifetime. LeAnn…
Editor’s note: This post was originally published on RESULTS’ blog on Dec. 15, 2016. According to the narrative the world tells about people like me, I should never have graduated from college with a 4.0 GPA. I should never have been chosen as commencement speaker. I probably should never have…