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Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, the Trump-appointed oligarchs tasked with cutting federal expenditures, have a daunting task ahead of them. This so-called “DOGE” duo has vowed to slash about $2 trillion in governmental spending, even though there was only $1.7 trillion in “discretionary” spending in the FY 2023 budget.
About half of discretionary spending is for national security. Interest on the debt and mandatory programs like Social Security and Medicare, accounted for $3.8 trillion in last year’s budget.
That means mandatory programs are now at risk with the $2 trillion target. The budget review may be a worthy undertaking because there is undoubtedly substantial waste built into every U.S.
budget. Recommendations made by the two should be considered by Congress and the new administration, but that’s where problems will likely arise. To get to the amount targeted, it is almost certain they will recommend cutting into safety net programs.
Although the DOGE duo and Trump claim a president can unilaterally implement their recommended cuts, the U.S. Constitution and the legacy of my former boss, Sen.
Len Jordan, won’t permit Trump to do it. In 1972, during his last year in the Senate, Jordan was fed up with President Richard Nixon’s impoundment of funds for water projects that Congress approved for Idaho and other states. That is, Congress would pass bills to authorize and fund the projects, but Nixon would refuse to make the expenditures.
Jordan correctly pointed out that Congress holds the nation’s purse strings under the U.S. Constitution, and when the law calls for specified expenditures, the president cannot refuse to spend the money.
The president must execute the laws, not defy them. On Oct. 13, 1972, Jordan gained passage of an amendment to a bill limiting the national debt to $250 billion (it’s now more than $36 trillion).
The amendment restricted Nixon’s ability to impound funds appropriated by Congress. I accompanied Jordan on the Senate floor to assist with the debate. He argued, “If ever the day comes when the Congress surrenders its control, or even part of its control over the purse strings of this nation, on that day the Congress will have reduced itself, by self-immolation, to the ashes of sterility.
” That made an impression on his Senate colleagues..
