Article I, Section 8, Clause 1 of the Constitution vests the "power of the purse" in Congress: “No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law . . .” In specifying the activities on which public funds may be spent, Congress
defines the contours of federal power. This requirement of legislative appropriation before public funds are spent is at the foundation of our constitutional order, observed Kate Stith Lafayette S. Foster Professor of Law at Yale Law School.
Prof. Stith further observed that rather than create a power, the Appropriations Clause creates a legislative duty that Congress exercise control and assume responsibility over the federal fisc. Congress’s “power of the purse” is at the foundation of our Constitution’s separation of powers, a constitutionally mandated check on Executive power.
Unfortunately, in the modern era Congress has regularly failed in that duty, choosing to appropriate by self-induced crises of pending government “shutdowns” rather than through the regular order of committee hearings and bills brought to the floor for debate and amendment.
In a recent “Memo for the Movement” the conservative leaders participating in the Conservative Action Project admonished the House Republican leadership to pre-emptively pass a short-term Continuing Resolution to March of 2025. Such a move would avoid the threat of a shutdown which will inevitably result in the middle of the night passage of a bloated omnibus spending bill.
Washington, DC
Conservatives urge the House majority to maximize their leverage in the Fiscal Year 2025 appropriations process, which is already underway.
The fiscal year ends on September 30, 2024. Rather than setting up the possibility of a shutdown at the end of the year, the House should pre-emptively pass a short-term Continuing Resolution to March of 2025. This not only avoids the legislative pile up before November, it removes the possibility of a bloated omnibus spending bill being jammed through the lame duck session. Moreover, it gives the new administration a chance to impose its priorities on a must-pass spending bill early in 2025.
Critically, a CR of this nature must not contain the appropriations side deals like the ones negotiated by former Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Senate Appropriations Chair Patty Murray. Rather, the CR must be tied to the 2025 levels enacted as part of the Fiscal Responsibility Act.
There are very few major legislative items left on Congress’s calendar this year, but appropriations bills are one of them. We implore the House not to waste the opportunity to manage the process in a strategic manner which limits the possibility of a lame duck omnibus, adheres to statutory limits without side deals, and allows a new appropriations process to begin in an orderly manner in 2025.
Signed,
The Honorable Edwin Meese III
Attorney General
President Ronald Reagan (1985-1988)
The Honorable Jim DeMint
Chairman, Conservative Partnership Institute
Member, US Senate (SC 2005-2013)
Kevin Roberts, Ph.D.
President
The Heritage Foundation
The Honorable J. Kenneth Blackwell
Chairman, Conservative Action Project
Chairman, CNP Action, Inc.
The Honorable Morton C. Blackwell
President
The Leadership Institute
The Honorable Tony Perkins
President
Family Research Council
Jenny Beth Martin
Chairman
Tea Party Patriots Citizen Fund
David N. Bossie
President
Citizens United
Rebecca Weber
CEO, Association of Mature American Citizens (AMAC)
Bob Carlstrom
President
AMAC Action
The Honorable T. Kenneth Cribb, Jr.
Assistant to the President for Domestic Affairs, President Ronald Reagan
L. Brent Bozell III
Founder and President
Media Research Center
Thomas H. Jones
Founder
American Accountability Foundation
Marty Dannenfelser
Vice President for Government Relations and Coalitions, Center for Urban Renewal and Education (CURE)
Lori Roman
President
ACRU Action Fund
Terry Schilling
President
American Principles Project
The Honorable Becky Norton Dunlop
White House Advisor
President Ronald Reagan (1981-1985)
Seton Motley
President
Less Government
Ron Pearson
Executive Director
Conservative Victory Fund
Jack Park
Conservative Activist and Donor
Karen England
President
Capitol Resource Institute
Andrew Roth
President
State Freedom Caucus Network
John Stemberger
President
Liberty Counsel Action
Lee Beaman
CEO
Beaman Ventures
Kimberly C. Good
President & CIO
KCG Investment
The Honorable Gary L. Bauer
President
American Values
Robert K. Fischer
Meeting Coordinator
Conservatives of Faith
Christina Murphy, Esq.
President
The Martin Foundation
Lourdes Cosio
Campaign for the American Future
Shannon O. Royce
President
Christian Employers Alliance
Kay R. Daly
President
Coalition for a Fair Judiciary
Tim Throckmorton
President
Lifepointe Ministries
The Honorable Mike Hill
Former Member
Florida State House
The Honorable Ken Cuccinelli II
Sr. Fellow
Center for Renewing America
Mr. E.C. Sykes
General Partner
Aslan Ventures
The Honorable Peter J. Thomas
Chairman
The Conservative Caucus
Chris Iacovella
President & CEO
American Securities Association
The Honorable Brooke Rollins
President and CEO
America First Policy Institute (AFPI)
Ed Corrigan
Vice Chairman, Conservative Action Project and President & CEO, Conservative Partnership Institute
Chad Connelly
Founder and President
Faith Wins
Thomas E. McClusky
Principal
Greenlight Strategies, LLC
William L. Walton
The Bill Walton Show
Resolute Protector Foundation
Myron Ebell
Chairman
American Lands Council
Star Parker
Founder and President, Center for Urban Renewal and Education (CURE)
Cleta Mitchell, Esq.
Senior Legal Fellow
Conservative Partnership Institute
Scott T. Parkinson
Vice President for Government Affairs
Club for Growth
Alfred S. Regnery
President
Republic Book Publishers
Kevin Freeman
Founder
NSIC Institute
Kelly M. Kullberg
General Secretary, American Association of Evangelicals (AAE)
David Kullberg
Executive Director
Christians for A Sound Economy (CASE)
Bishop E.W. Jackson, Sr.
Founder and President
STAND Foundation Inc.
Elaine Donnelly
President
Center for Military Readiness
Thomas Pyle
President
American Energy Alliance
Kristen A. Ullman
President
Eagle Forum
Shea Bradley-Farrell, PhD
President
Counterpoint Institute
Tim Macy
Chairman
Gun Owners of America
C. Preston Noell III
President
Tradition, Family, Property, Inc.
Rod D. Martin
Founder and CEO
Martin Capital, Inc.
Guillermo J. Aragon
Chief Strategy Officer
Martin Capital, Inc.
Ambassador Henry F. Cooper
Chief Defense and Space Negotiator, President Ronald Reagan & SDI Director, President George H.W. Bush
Tom DeWeese
President
American Policy Center
Penna Dexter
Co-Host
Point of View Radio
Nancy Schulze
National Strategic Advisor
Physicians for Reform
The Honorable Charles J. Cooper
Assistant Attorney General, President Ronald Reagan 1985-1988
Cooper & Kirk PLLC
The Honorable George K. Rasley Jr.
Managing Editor
Mr. Richard D. Hayes
State Representative
State of Texas
RC Williams
Director
Watchmen Action, Inc.
Congress
power of the purse
Constitutional powers
GOP leaders
legislative appropriations
legislative duty
Speaker Mike Johnson
Mitch McConnell
continuing resolutions
government shutdowns
omnibus spending bills
2024 fiscal year
Fiscal Responsibility Act