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.
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While the FY16 omnibus spending bill included funding beyond the harsh sequestration caps and included gains for some important human needs programs, programs serving low-income Americans overall fared considerably worse than others. According to new research by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, low-income discretionary programs (those funded by…
This post was originally published on the Campaign for Youth Justice’s blog on January 26. In a historic moment Monday, President Obama used his executive authority to end the use of solitary confinement for youth in the federal prison system. This action is incredibly important to the numerous youth who…
[Editor’s Note: This piece was co-written by Deborah Weinstein, CHN’s executive director, and Rev. Jennifer Butler, CEO of Faith in Public Life. With many thanks to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and the National Women’s Law Center for their excellent work on this issue, which the authors drew upon heavily. This originally appeared in The…
A survey of select cities across the U.S. showed that roughly a quarter of individuals and families who needed emergency food and shelter were turned away because of a lack of available resources. The Hunger and Homelessness Survey from the United States Conference of Mayors, released in late December, presented the…
Within the first minute and a half of his final State of the Union address on Tuesday, President Obama called out the need for criminal justice reform. And with good reason. Nearly 1 in 100 American adults is incarcerated. America’s prison population has increased by 500 percent over the past…
Amid all the largely disconnected discussions about angry white males, stagnant wages and inequality, fatherless families, and polarized politics, several striking linkages among these issues have largely gone unnoticed. Tens of millions of white men have been expelled or checked out from mainstream American life – a reality with profound…
Tuesday night will see President Obama delivering his seventh – and final – State of the Union address. By most accounts, the President will both reflect on the past – highlight some of his Administration’s accomplishments – and look ahead to the future. With only one year remaining in office,…
As you hopefully saw in our earlier blog post and Fact of the Week, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) is moderating a forum on “Expanding Opportunity” tomorrow (Saturday, January 9) in which at least seven of the Republican presidential candidates will take part. We’ll be taking part via social media,…
House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) is interested in reducing poverty, and is moderating a forum on “Expanding Opportunity” this Saturday (January 9) in South Carolina, in which at least seven of the Republican presidential candidates will take part. We await with interest their proposals to reduce poverty and expand opportunity….
2016 is finally here, which means the presidential election is now only 305 days away. Reducing poverty and expanding opportunity for all Americans should be a key issue during the campaign season. So you can bet we’ll be watching with interest this Saturday, January 9th, when at least seven Republican…
A few weeks ago, my significant other and I were watching the HBO series Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel. One of the segments was on kids and guns. As you can see in this brief video, a 13-year-old actor (being driven around by his mom, since he’s not old enough…
We all know raising a child isn’t cheap. But for families living at the poverty level, the rising cost of child care is even more difficult to afford. The cost of center-based child care for an infant ranges from 24 percent of income for a family of three living at…