Democratic Rep. DeLauro: Trump trying to ‘rob appropriated funds’ with spending freeze

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• Amna Nawaz:

  And to understand the impact of this sweeping pause, we're joined now by Democratic Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, the ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee.

  Congresswoman, thanks for joining us.

  I'm sure you have seen now late today a judge has issued a temporary halt on the implementation of this freeze on federal funds and grants until a February 3 hearing. That was to go into effective 5:00 today. Now it won't.

  What's your reaction to that news?

• Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT):

  Well, listen, a very, very positive reaction to that news.

  And, first of all, thank you very much. It's great to be to be with you.

  This is outrageous of what the Trump administration is trying to just rob appropriated funds. There is a process that we go through in the appropriations bills. And in order to get them passed, you have to have buy-in from Democrats, Republicans, House and the Senate. President signs the bill, et cetera. And those funds then are to be administered by the agencies.

  And that's where we are. And this is outrageous. I'm delighted that this judge understands that this needs to have more debate, more clarification, and we need to have a hearing on it. So, in the meantime, we can provide all the information that is needed to talk about what will happen with this freeze.

  What happens to the American people, to hardworking people?

• Amna Nawaz:

  Congresswoman, if I may, let me ask you about what we have already seen even just today. The White House has said it's a temporary pause. They have also said that assistance going to individuals would not be impacted.

  They sent a fact sheet that said Medicaid and SNAP benefits, or food stamps, wouldn't be impacted. Funding for Pell Grants, Head Start, rental assistance, other similar programs would not be paused.

  Is that consistent with what you have already seen in your state, for example?

• Rep. Rosa DeLauro:

  No, look, I just left a press conference with our governor and attorney general.

  And the fact of the matter is that, in federal direct aid to the state of Connecticut is $14.3 billion, all of which is in jeopardy. They can't pick and choose what they want to fund or not. The Congress — power the purse by virtue of the Constitution and Article 1, Section 9, Clause 7, says that no money shall be drawn from the Treasury but in consequences of appropriations.

  We voted on these bills. They were passed. The money is there. They can't be deciding, because they may have had a backlash on some of what they're doing that, oh, my God, they're going to redirect, so they're not going to take money from this effort, but they will from that. Hell no.

• Amna Nawaz:

  We did speak with a constitutional expert, that's Professor Stephen Vladeck, and he said in his view this move is unconstitutional, but here's what he had to say specifically about why.

• Stephen Vladeck, Georgetown University Law Center:

  The 1974 Impoundment Control Act is basically intended to create a process where, if the president wants to not spend money Congress has appropriated, he's supposed to go to Congress and tell them why, and then give Congress 45 days to either agree with the president or disagree with the president.

  We have seen none of that here. The president does not have the right in the first place to decide for himself what the spending priorities are going to be. That's literally Congress' job.

• Amna Nawaz:

  Congresswoman, I guess the question is, is there anything that you and lawmakers can do about this right now?

• Rep. Rosa DeLauro:

  Yes.

  Well, look, you have got — first of all, we're working with and in concert with the lawsuits that are out there with our attorney general and others around the country, with the nonprofit groups that we represent. And we will look for legislative opportunities for what we can do. But, in the meantime, in the meantime, you probably have seen what the administration has put out as to what they're doing, that they're going to cut a Green New Deal.

  Well, you know what? There's no Green New Deal. That's a done deal. They talk about a woke agenda, whatever they think that is.

• Amna Nawaz:

  Congresswoman, I hear your concerns and I know there are a lot of questions and there's a lot of uncertainty around this right now.

  I need to ask, though. In many ways we knew this was coming. I mean, President Trump, when he was running for office back in 2023, said specifically that he would do this. Here's how he put it back then.

  Donald Trump, President of the United States: When I return to the White House, I will do everything I can to challenge the Impoundment Control Act in court and, if necessary, get Congress to overturn it. We will overturn it.

• Amna Nawaz:

  I guess the question again, Congresswoman, is what can be done about it? How can you make sure that you don't allow more of your power to go to the executive?

• Rep. Rosa DeLauro:

  Yes, well, we are not going to do that.

  You heard the constitutional attorney talk about that this is invalid. Supreme Court has spoken out on the impoundment. He did that in the conjunction with, I believe, was it Ronald Reagan or — and said it is not inherent in the Constitution for the president to have this power.

• Amna Nawaz:

  But you're saying this is now a matter for the courts. Is that right?

• Rep. Rosa DeLauro:

  We're going to fight this battle before the courts.

  And the fact is, he does not have the power. Supreme Court, Government Accountability Office, Department of Justice have all spoken out on this issue over the years.

  But you know what? You know what this is about? This is about America's hardworking families. This is about a family who wants to send their kid to school, who has a child who has maybe developmental disabilities, and they need to go to special education. And the money needs to be there.

  This is about local law enforcement. This is about defunding the police and our firefighters, cutting off that money, the Violence Against Women Act, the funding for that, our community health centers, which, for millions of people across this country, primary health care. And that would cut off the funds and freeze the funds for these groups, for state opioid response screens, substance abuse prevention and treatment block grant.

  Are they going to reverse themselves on all of this? They cannot pick and choose what they want to fund or not fund. That is the purview and the power of the United States Congress.

• Amna Nawaz:

  Democratic Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut joining us tonight.

  Congresswoman, thank you for your time.

• Rep. Rosa DeLauro:

  Thank you very, very much. Appreciate it.