Senators Want To Claw Back Trump’s Spending Power. They Should Just Pass a Real Budget Instead.

You’d have an easier time hitting a fastball off Milwaukee Brewers phenom Jacob Misiorowski than getting Congress to take back wasteful spending it has appropriated, as the Trump administration is finding out.

On Monday, the Senate passed a continuing resolution to fund parts of the federal government through December 11. The bill includes a provision that temporarily blocks the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) from implementing a rule change that would have given executive branch political appointees greater control over the disbursement of federal grants.

Proposed by the OMB in May, the rule has garnered over 62,123 public comments, most of which are in opposition. It would require “senior appointees” to review grant proposals for consistency with “applicable law, federal agency priorities, and the national interest.” It also says agencies must ensure that funding proposals “advance the president’s policy priorities.” 

The ban’s inclusion in the funding bill appears to be a direct response from Sens. Patty Murray (D–Wash.) and Susan Collins (R–Maine), who didn’t take kindly to the Trump administration’s use of pocket rescissions last year. In her statement on the resolution, Collins said she was “pleased” that the bill “prevents” the OMB from implementing its proposed rule, which would “politicize grants” and “harm small, rural communities, families, and biomedical research.” Murray was more direct, calling the rule a “corrupt policy that would allow [President Donald] Trump to hold even more federal grants hostage.” 

It’s a fair assessment, considering Trump’s record of brashly—and often illegally—cutting federal programs. 

It started last March when Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, began laying off federal employees and canceling grant programs it deemed wasteful. However, DOGE often failed to follow the proper process for many of the cuts it implemented, resulting in a host of lawsuits that have repealed or stymied those efforts. DOGE also exaggerated its accomplishments, leaving many of its claims about spending cuts unverified. As a result, the office, which is now shuttered, has delivered a fraction of the $2 trillion in cuts that Musk had promised.

The OMB has also targeted energy projects greenlighted by the Biden administration in states depending on whether they are represented by two Democratic senators or awarded electoral votes to Kamala Harris. Decisions like these have come under legal fire, including on Tuesday, when a federal appeals court ruled that the Trump administration illegally axed a multibillion-dollar program created by the Biden administration for green energy projects.

Credit where due, this White House has at least been willing to slash some of the billions spent on discretionary programs. However, its approach grows the powers of the executive branch and further diminishes Congress’ constitutional authority.

Congress could easily reassert its power of the purse by going through the proper budgeting process each fiscal year. But that hasn’t happened since 1997, and even then, it was only the fourth time in the last five decades.

It could also use its rescission authority more regularly. Since the Impoundment Control Act’s passage in 1974—which gives presidents the authority to withhold or defer appropriated funds for 45 days—Congress has spent roughly $127 trillion, according to the OMB. Of that, less than 1 percent has been rescinded by lawmakers, according to the latest available data from the Government Accountability Office (GAO). 

That’s not to say Congress doesn’t know how to wield this power. When the president followed the process last year, Congress passed the Rescissions Act of 2025, reversing $9 billion in previously approved spending, including funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Of course, the best thing that Congress can do to curb the worst impulses of Trump and future presidents is to stop approving wasteful spending in the first place. As Citizens Against Government Waste points out, the FY 2026 funding bill includes $24 billion worth of earmarks, including $41.7 million set aside to “combat underwater pests.” Murray is herself a chief culprit in this regard; the Washington senator has 96 earmarks in the FY 2026 budget, totaling $484 million in funding for her pet projects. 

Still, it’s encouraging that the Senate is finally taking an interest in reigning in Trump’s takeover of the budget. However, absent Congress following its own appropriations process, we’ll likely find ourselves in this situation again.