Why Should We Care About Congress’s Power of the Purse? (with Shalanda Young)
About this episode
The episode discusses the significance of Congress's power of the purse and the ongoing budget process amidst tensions between the executive and legislative branches.
The topic of this episode is, “Why should we care about Congress's power of the purse?” Well, we are just getting through the FY2026 budget process, which Congress was supposed to finish nearly half a year ago. And the next budget process has begun. During the second administration of Donald Trump, we have seen an escalation of the longstanding battle between the executive branch and the legislative branch over federal revenue-raising and federal spending. Mr. Trump famously unleashed the Department of Government Efficiency, and he has refused to spend money appropriated by Congress. In other cases, he has repurposed money appropriated for one purpose to another purpose. And this is to say nothing of some of the peculiar revenue-raising maneuvers he has made, such as seizing oil from Venezuela, selling it, and then tucking the money in an overseas bank account. Should we be bothered by any of these doings? Should we really care whether Congress or the president exerts more or less power over the federal purse? To discuss these questions, I have with me Shalanda Young , who has an extraordinary amount of expertise and experience in federal budgeting matters. Ms. Young presently is…
People in this episode
Guest: Shalanda Young
Topics covered
- Congress
- budget process
- federal spending
- executive branch
- legislative branch
- power of the purse
Keywords
- Congress
- budget
- federal spending
- executive power
- legislative power
- Shalanda Young
- Donald Trump
- Joseph Biden
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: New York University, U.S. Office of Management and Budget
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