Rep. Mike Levin Introduces Amendment to Uphold Congress’s Constitutional Authority—House Republicans Stunningly Vote No
Washington, D.C.— Just after midnight, during a House Appropriations Committee meeting, Rep. Mike Levin (CA-49) introduced a simple amendment to affirm Congress’s exclusive constitutional authority to control federal spending and act as a co-equal branch of government.
Stunningly, all 35 House Republicans on the Committee voted against it.
By rejecting the amendment, Republicans sided with dramatically expanding executive power—undermining the separation of powers laid out in Article I, Section 9 of the Constitution.
Watch Rep. Levin’s opening and closing remarks here (captioned) and here (clean).
Watch the full Committee debate on the amendment here.
Full text of the amendment is here and below:
“Sec. ___. (a) None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available by this or any other Act, or provided from any accounts in the Treasury of the United States derived by the collection of fees available to the agencies funded by this Act, shall be obligated or expended to—
(1) carry out or facilitate activities that restrict or redirect funds in any way that is not outlined in this Act or in statute.”
Rep. Levin will continue to introduce amendments during the Appropriations process to hold the Trump Administration accountable and ensure that Congress’s constitutional powers are respected.
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