Understanding the Impoundment Control Act

During President Trump’s first term, Trump illegally withheld $214 million of bipartisan security assistance for Ukraine in an attempt to coerce Ukraine into investigating Trump’s political rival. This withholding of congressionally appropriated funds not only constituted an abuse of power, but it also violated the Impoundment Control Act (ICA), a law Congress passed more than 50 years ago in response to repeated executive overreach by the Nixon administration.

Trump announced plans to use the impoundment–or withholding–of funds during his 2024 presidential campaign: “With Impoundment,” he said, “we can simply choke off the money.” And within hours of his inauguration he directed agencies to withhold funds for foreign aid, energy programs, and sanctuary cities. 

But the Constitution gives Congress, not the executive, the power of the purse. As part of this role, Congress may pass laws that give agencies money for programs it determines to be priorities, give the executive branch broad discretion in how to spend appropriated funds, condition the use of funding on compliance with other statutory requirements or deny funding for initiatives altogether. Once such a law is enacted, it is the president’s constitutional duty to faithfully execute it—including implementing the programs and initiatives funded by Congress.

The ICA gives the president limited authority to withhold funds in only specified circumstances. If the president wishes to temporarily delay using funds appropriated by Congress, then in certain situations the president can do so by “deferring” the funds through a special message to Congress. And if the president determines that funds are no longer needed, under the ICA the president can send a special message to Congress asking to rescind those funds using the fast-track procedures outlined in the law.

Since the enactment of the ICA in 1974, presidents across the political spectrum have relied on these procedures to delay and propose the cancellation of spending. Other presidents, however, have failed to report delays to Congress, or have withheld funds for reasons that are not permitted under the law. Read our overview of key concepts related to impoundment to see examples of the executive branch’s use, and abuse, of the ICA.

Photo by Gage Skidmore under a Creative Commons license