President-elect Donald Trump's GOP allies in the House of Representatives are pushing for him to have greater control over the annual business of Congress Government spending process next year.
Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., is introducing a bill Monday that would repeal a measure that forces the president to direct the federal government to spend the full amount of money appropriated by Congress each year.
Clyde told Fox News Digital on Thursday that he also plans to introduce the bill in the next Congress, when Republicans control the House, Senate and White House — and that the issue is already under discussion in Trump's circle.
“This was certainly a topic that came up” with Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk when they were on Capitol Hill earlier this month to discuss government efficiency management, Clyde said.
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Some Republicans want to give President-elect Donald Trump greater authority in the appropriations process in Congress. (Chris Unger/Zova LLC)
“They support it, because how can you be efficient and not have the ability to cut spending? You simply can't.”
He also told a small group of reporters earlier this month that Trump's Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought “strongly supports it.”
The Sequestration Control Act of 1974 was passed during the Nixon administration and was intended to prevent the president from having a unilateral say in government spending.
Currently, the president must obtain congressional approval to cancel any funding allocated for a given year. The funds in question can be held for up to 45 days while the application is processed.
“I think exercising power is very important for a president,” Clyde said. “Since Congress introduced this law, I've seen spending literally spiral upward. And that's not good for our country.”
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Rep. Andrew Clyde, Republican of Georgia, is leading the campaign to repeal the Custody Control Act. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Clyde's bill would repeal the Custody Control Act. A similar bill is being introduced in the Senate before Sen. Mike Lee, Republican of Utah.
More than a dozen House Republicans also support his bill, Clyde said.
Musk and Ramaswamy called for Trump to be given greater authority to cancel funding in a Wall Street Journal op-ed last month, after the president-elect appointed them to lead an advisory committee on reducing government waste.
The Republican from Georgia admitted that the bill has long been opposed in the current Senate, which is controlled by Democrats, and there is only one week left in Congress's term, but he said that he would “definitely” introduce it in the next Congress.
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Rep. Brendan Boyle, D-Pa., the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee, opposes the idea. (Getty Images)
He described Monday's introduction as “putting a flag on the ground, saying: Hey, this is a power that the president should be able to use in an unhindered way, and we will help.”
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However, the issue is likely to fall along party lines. Representative Brendan Boyle, Democrat of Pennsylvania, is the top Democrat in the House House Budget CommitteeHe responded to Musk and Ramaswamy's op-ed by calling their ideas “as stupid as they are dangerous.”
“Unilaterally cutting off funds appropriated by the people’s lawfully elected representatives in Congress would be a devastating power grab that undermines our economy and puts families and communities at risk,” Boyle said in a statement.
