Dems slam Trump admin over alleged $436B spending block
Two top Democrats have blasted President Donald Trump and Elon Musk for what they claim is the administration's withholding of more than $430 billion in already congressionally approved funding.
The frozen allotments span the federal government, according to the first estimate of the potential impoundments in the project led by Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., who released the figures to coincide with the administration marking its 100 days in office.
They accuse the Trump administration of ignoring constitutional spending rules and denying Americans the funding they are legally owed.
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Murray and DeLauro estimate that the Trump administration has withheld at least $436.87 billion in congressionally approved federal funding across multiple agencies, including for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Transportation Departent. Trump campaigned on slashing government waste and reducing the size of the federal government.
He appointed Musk to be head of the Department of Government Efficiency to root out waste, fraud and corruption in the federal government in order to expedite his agenda and also sought to pull all monies for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.
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"While President Trump is pushing to pass massive new tax breaks for billionaires like himself, he is unilaterally blocking hundreds of billions of dollars in investments owed to the American people," Murray and DeLauro said in a joint statement.
"No American president has ever so flagrantly ignored our nation's spending laws or so brazenly denied the American people investments they are owed."
The lawmakers released a tracker to keep the public up to date with the figures. Fox News Digital reached out to the White House to verify if the figures were accurate.
According to the tracker, almost $42 billion was frozen or canceled for the State Department, including the frozen support for USAID, along with another $62 billion-plus in competitive grant funding for the Transportation Department.
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The Democrats also detailed $943 million frozen for the Head Start early-education program and more than $10 billion in frozen and canceled funding for the Natural Resources Conservation Service.
The $436.87 billion is the minimum amount of federal funding the Committees believe the administration is currently freezing, canceling, or fighting in court to block, they said.
"Instead of making our communities and our nation safer, President Trump is holding up public safety grants and critical investments Congress has made to strengthen our national security," the Democrats said.
"Bottom line: instead of investing in the American people, President Trump is ignoring our laws and ripping resources away from them—insisting our country cannot afford to help families make ends meet at the same time he seeks over $5 trillion in new tax breaks for billionaires."
The Democrats also singled out Russ Vought, the head Office of Management and Budget.
The administration's refusal to spend congressionally authorized funds amounts to a challenge of the Constitution, which gives Congress oversight over spending, the lawmakers said.
The administration has not submitted any formal rescission requests, as required under the Impoundment Control Act of 1974.
The Democrats also said that DOGE promised to be transparent but has failed to provide Congressional oversight requests and refused to answer basic questions from the press.
"The unprecedented lack of transparency and responsiveness makes tracking what funding is being blocked all the more difficult, and it remains the Trump administration's responsibility to not only follow our spending laws but to explain its actions to date," Murray and DeLauro said.
Reuters contributed to this report. Original article source: Dems slam Trump admin over alleged $436B spending block
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