Democrats in Congress were quick on Tuesday to call Donald Trump’s surprise freeze of federal aid a violation of the Constitution, noting that the president doesn’t have the authority to seize funds that Congress already appropriated.
But if you asked Republicans about Trump’s new directive, there was no issue at all.
“That’s a normal practice at the beginning of an administration, until they have an opportunity to review how the money is being spent,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters on Tuesday. “We’ll see kind of what the extent of it is, and what they’re, you know — what they intend to do in a more fulsome way. But, you know, for now, I think it’s just kind of a preliminary step that I think most administrations take.”