Donald Trump is using the Office of Management and Budget to bend the federal government to his will and test the limits of a legal theory that could change Washington as we know it.
OMB’s sweeping memo Monday pausing federal grant programs was quickly blocked by a federal judge on Tuesday afternoon, who stopped the order from taking effect until further legal review.
But Trump, his nominee to run OMB, Russell Vought, and general counsel for the agency, Mark Paoletta, have all publicly said that a Nixon-era law meant to reassert Congress’ spending power, the Impoundment Control Act, is unconstitutional. And they seem prepared to see that theory through, with Vought’s OMB running the show.