Article I, Section 8, Clause 1 of the Constitution vests the “power of the purse” in Congress: “No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law . . .” In specifying the activities on which public funds may be spent, Congress
defines the contours of federal power. This requirement of legislative appropriation before public funds are spent is at the foundation of our constitutional order, observed Kate Stith Lafayette S. Foster Professor of Law at Yale Law School.
Prof. Stith further observed that rather than create a power, the Appropriations Clause creates a legislative duty that Congress exercise control and assume responsibility over the federal fisc. Congress’s “power of the purse” is at the foundation of our Constitution’s separation of powers, a constitutionally mandated check on Executive power.
Unfortunately, in the modern era Congress has regularly failed in that duty, choosing to appropriate by self-induced crises of pending government “shutdowns” rather than through the regular order of committee hearings and bills brought to the floor for debate and amendment.
In a recent “Memo for the Movement” the conservative leaders participating in the Conservative Action Project admonished the House Republican leadership to pre-emptively pass a short-term Continuing Resolution to March of 2025. Such a move would avoid the threat of a shutdown which will inevitably result in the middle of the night passage of a bloated omnibus spending bill.
Conservatives urge the House majority to maximize their leverage in the Fiscal Year 2025 appropriations process, which is already underway.
The fiscal year ends on September 30, 2024. Rather than setting up the possibility of a shutdown at the end of the year, the House should pre-emptively pass a short-term Continuing Resolution to March of 2025. This not only avoids the legislative pile up before November, it removes the possibility of a bloated omnibus spending bill being jammed through the lame duck session. Moreover, it gives the new administration a chance to impose its priorities on a must-pass spending bill early in 2025.
Critically, a CR of this nature must not contain the appropriations side deals like the ones negotiated by former Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Senate Appropriations Chair Patty Murray. Rather, the CR must be tied to the 2025 levels enacted as part of the Fiscal Responsibility Act.
There are very few major legislative items left on Congress’s calendar this year, but appropriations bills are one of them. We implore the House not to waste the opportunity to manage the process in a strategic manner which limits the possibility of a lame duck omnibus, adheres to statutory limits without side deals, and allows a new appropriations process to begin in an orderly manner in 2025.
The Honorable Edwin Meese III
President Ronald Reagan (1985-1988)
Chairman, Conservative Partnership Institute
Member, US Senate (SC 2005-2013)
The Honorable J. Kenneth Blackwell
Chairman, Conservative Action Project
Chairman, CNP Action, Inc.
The Honorable Morton C. Blackwell
The Leadership Institute
The Honorable Tony Perkins
Family Research Council
Tea Party Patriots Citizen Fund
CEO, Association of Mature American Citizens (AMAC)
The Honorable T. Kenneth Cribb, Jr.
Assistant to the President for Domestic Affairs, President Ronald Reagan
American Accountability Foundation
Vice President for Government Relations and Coalitions, Center for Urban Renewal and Education (CURE)
American Principles Project
The Honorable Becky Norton Dunlop
President Ronald Reagan (1981-1985)
Conservative Victory Fund
Conservative Activist and Donor
Capitol Resource Institute
State Freedom Caucus Network
The Honorable Gary L. Bauer
Campaign for the American Future
Christian Employers Alliance
Coalition for a Fair Judiciary
The Honorable Ken Cuccinelli II
Center for Renewing America
The Honorable Peter J. Thomas
American Securities Association
The Honorable Brooke Rollins
America First Policy Institute (AFPI)
Vice Chairman, Conservative Action Project and President & CEO, Conservative Partnership Institute
Greenlight Strategies, LLC
Resolute Protector Foundation
Founder and President, Center for Urban Renewal and Education (CURE)
Conservative Partnership Institute
Vice President for Government Affairs
General Secretary, American Association of Evangelicals (AAE)
Christians for A Sound Economy (CASE)
Center for Military Readiness
American Energy Alliance
Shea Bradley-Farrell, PhD
Tradition, Family, Property, Inc.
Ambassador Henry F. Cooper
Chief Defense and Space Negotiator, President Ronald Reagan & SDI Director, President George H.W. Bush
National Strategic Advisor
The Honorable Charles J. Cooper
Assistant Attorney General, President Ronald Reagan 1985-1988
The Honorable George K. Rasley Jr.