What you need to know
In his first 100 days in office, President Trump signed executive orders to reduce federal spending by opting not to spend budgeted funds. This process is known as an impoundment. What are the rules governing impoundments? Have past Presidents impounded funds?
- Can Presidents refuse to spend funds appropriated by Congress?
- What are the rules governing these impoundments?
What are Impoundments?
While the Constitution grants Congress the ‘power of the purse’ to determine spending levels by enacting an annual budget, current law gives the President a limited power to impound funds.
Until Richard Nixon impounded roughly $18 billion from various programs, there were few examples of impoundments. The Supreme Court ruled unanimously in 1975’s Train v. City of New York that Nixon had to release the funds. However, its decision did not consider the constitutionality of impoundment.
While the Court was hearing the case, Congress enacted the Impoundment Control Act of 1974 (ICA). The ICA gives the President limited authority to impound funds. The ICA also divides impoundments into two types of impoundments: deferrals and rescissions. Deferrals are temporary holds on funding – they may not extend beyond the end of the current fiscal year. A presidential deferral stays in effect unless the House and Senate pass a disapproval resolution. Rescission is a permanent funding cut, but the House and Senate must approve the action within 45 days. Otherwise, the rescission is reversed. The ICA requires the President to notify Congress with a special message containing an impoundment’s estimated fiscal, economic, and budgetary impacts.
President George H.W. Bush was the last president to successfully impound funds. He cut $7.9 billion in spending through 128 rescissions, which were successfully passed with bipartisan support. President Trump proposed several rescissions in his first term, but Congress did not approve his recommendations.
What about President Trump’s recent impoundments?
In his first three months in office, President Trump has cut spending across various federal agencies, from the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health to the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Department of the Treasury. The total number of cuts is tens of billions of dollars. However, as of the publication of this brief, it is believed the President has not sent special messages to Congress detailing his rationale for impounding funds. Neither the House nor the Senate has voted to approve the impoundments.
Ultimately, if the ICA’s procedures are not followed, members of Congress could bring a court case, culminating in a Supreme Court review of the ICA’s constitutionality, and the spending cuts could be reversed.
A ruling that strikes the ICA down will change the balance of power between Congress and the President. It will allow Presidents to treat the annual budget as a funding ceiling and reduce spending on activities that they disapprove of.
The Take-Away
Current law gives the President a limited power to impound funds. These rules have been in effect for over 50 years.
President Trump’s impoundments deviate from current law because his administration has not sent special messages to Congress detailing the reasons for his impoundment. The 45-day clock for congressional approval is also not being implemented.
The Supreme Court will ultimately decide on the constitutionality of the Impoundment Control Act and President Trump’s actions.
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Further reading
Joyce, P. (2025). The Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act at 50: A Mid‐Life Crisis. Public Budgeting & Finance.
Redburn, S. (2025). The Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974: Form Over Substance. Public Budgeting & Finance.
Sources
U.S. Congress. N.d. Constitution Annotated. Available at https://tinyurl.com/2htsfwdy, accessed 4/18/25.
U.S. Congressional Research Service. 2025. The Impoundment Control Act of 1974: Background and Congressional Consideration of Rescissions. Available at https://tinyurl.com/bdhmj6y5, accessed 4/18/25.
U.S. Government Accountability Office. 2025. Impoundment Control Act. Available at https://tinyurl.com/3u94kvn9, accessed 4/14/25.
U.S. House Appropriations Committee Democrats. 2025. Background on Unlawful Impoundment in President Trump’s Executive Orders. Available at https://tinyurl.com/h6z7xmwu, accessed 4/25/25.
Contributors
John Arnold (Intern) is a sophomore at Binghamton University majoring in Political Science and Economics
Robert Holahan (Content Lead) is Associate Professor of Political Science and Faculty-in-Residence of the Dickinson Research Team (DiRT) at Binghamton University (SUNY). He holds a PhD in Political Science from Indiana University where his advisor was Nobel Laureate Elinor Ostrom. His research focuses on natural resource policy, particularly domestic oil and gas production, and extends into international environmental policy. He was PI on a National Science Foundation grant that utilized a 3000-person mail-based survey, several internet-based surveys, and a series of laboratory economics experiments to analyze Americans’ perspectives on energy production issues like oil drilling and wind farm development.
William Bianco is Professor of Political Science at Indiana University and Founding Director of the Indiana Political Analytics Workshop. He received his PhD from the University of Rochester. His teaching focuses on first-year students and the Introduction to American Government class, emphasizing quantitative literacy. He is the co-author of American Politics Today, an introductory textbook published by W. W. Norton now in its 8th edition, and authored a second textbook, American Politics: Strategy and Choice. His research program is on American politics, including Trust: Representatives and Constituents and numerous articles. He was also the PI or Co-PI for seven National Science Foundation grants and a current grant from the Russell Sage Foundation on the sources of inequalities in federal COVID assistance programs. His op-eds have been published in the Washington Post, the Indianapolis Star, Newsday, and other venues.
