Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by prasadjoglekar 408 days ago
If the funds are disbursed from the public Treasury, it is very much a political decision. You can put some intermediary bureaucrats to create a face of objectivity, but it's a political decision at it's core.
2 comments

Funds duly allocated by the Legislature, which means they must be spent in service of what the Legislature allocated them for. Presidents cannot impound funds since the Impoundment Control Act, so either they need to spend them or convince Congress to change that allocation.

We can argue about the basis for terminating the grants until the cows come home, but this administration through DOGE has made it clear that they're not otherwise going to be spending this money, which is something the president cannot do.

Clawing back and terminating grants without due process is what dictators do; it's the opposite of what supporting and defending the Constitution is.

Do you understand that Congress has the power of the purse and the President does not?
Snark aside, Yes I do. Congress if fully capable of being specific when it wants to and delegating to the executive when it doesn't. For example they required the A10 airplane to continue to operate. They didn't specify the caliber of bullets to use.