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Rep. Clyde, Sen. Lee Introduce Legislation to Repeal Impoundment Control Act

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Congressman Andrew Clyde (GA-09) and Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) introduced legislation to repeal the Impoundment Control Act (ICA) of 1974.

 

“Rolling back the unconstitutional Impoundment Control Act is one of the most effective ways Congress can help President Trump in the fight to deliver the spending cuts and government efficiency that the American people overwhelmingly voted for,” said Clyde. “The Impoundment Control Act of 1974 has unjustly complicated the President’s constitutional impoundment authority for far too long. Every President from George Washington to Richard Nixon possessed this tool to cut wasteful spending until the ICA purported to divest the President of this critical power. In the fifty years since, America’s national debt and Washington’s spending habits have soared out of control. We must defend the presidential power of impoundment to get America’s fiscal house back in order.”

 

Bill text is available HERE.

 

Original cosponsors include Representatives Andy Biggs (AZ-05), Dan Bishop (NC-08), Lauren Boebert (CO-03), Tim Burchett (TN-02), Eric Burlison (MO-07), Byron Donalds (FL-19), Bob Good (VA-05), Marjorie Taylor Greene (GA-14), Clay Higgins (LA-03), Mary Miller (IL-15), Alex Mooney (WV-02), Barry Moore (AL-02), Troy Nehls (TX-22), Ralph Norman (SC-05), Chip Roy (TX-21), Tom Tiffany (WI-07), and Randy Weber (TX-14).

 

Background

 

Impoundment is the President’s constitutional power, vested in Article II of the U.S. Constitution, to decline to spend the full amount of funds that Congress appropriates. In other words, congressionally appropriated funds present a ceiling, not a floor. This authority was utilized by Presidents for nearly 200 years for reasons ranging from efficiency to foreign affairs.

 

At the height of the Watergate scandal, Congress unnecessarily and unlawfully complicated the presidential power of impoundment with passage of the Impoundment Control Act of 1974. The ICA is unconstitutional, as it violates the President’s Article II authority.

 

With a ballooning national debt, an out-of-control deficit, soaring interest payments, and crushing inflation, returning fiscal sanity is central to getting our country and our economy back on track. The President’s constitutional power of impoundment is essential to carrying out this mission for the American people.

Office Locations

Office Locations

Washington, DC Office 445 Cannon HOB
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: (202) 225-9893
Fax: (202) 226-1224
Gainesville District Office 210 Washington St NW, Suite 202
Gainesville, GA 30501
Phone: (470) 768-6520
Map of U.S. Representative Andrew Clyde's office locations