Impoundment of Appropriated Funds

Impoundment Of Appropriated Funds

Impoundment is the decision of a President of the United States not to spend money that has been appropriated by the U.S. Congress. The precedent for presidential impoundment was first set by Thomas Jefferson in 1801. The power was available to all presidents up to and including Richard Nixon, and was regarded as a power inherent to the office. The Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 was passed in response to perceived abuse of the power under President Nixon. Title X of the act, and its interpretation under Train v. City of New York, essentially removed the power. This severely inhibited a president's ability to reject congressionally-approved spending.

The Impoundment Control Act of 1974 provides that the president may propose rescission of specific funds, but that rescission must be approved by both the House of Representatives and Senate within 45 days. In effect, this has removed the impoundment power, since Congress is not required to vote on the rescission and has ignored the vast majority of presidential requests.

Forty-three U.S. states give their governors the authority to not spend money allocated by the state legislature. The states which deny their governor the authority are Indiana, Maryland, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Rhode Island, and Vermont. The Mayor of Washington, D.C. also has this power.