Government Spending

Senators Want To Claw Back Trump's Spending Power. They Should Just Pass a Real Budget Instead.

The Senate’s funding bill stops the Trump administration from handing political appointees control over federal grants, but Congress isn’t eager to rein in spending.

Tosin Akintola | 8.5.2026 1:20 PM

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You'd have an easier time hitting a fastball off Milwaukee Brewers phenom Jacob Misiorowski than getting Congress to take back wasteful spending it has appropriated, as the Trump administration is finding out.

On Monday, the Senate passed a continuing resolution to fund parts of the federal government through December 11. The bill includes a provision that temporarily blocks the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) from implementing a rule change that would have given executive branch political appointees greater control over the disbursement of federal grants.

Proposed by the OMB in May, the rule has garnered over 62,123 public comments, most of which are in opposition. It would require "senior appointees" to review grant proposals for consistency with "applicable law, federal agency priorities, and the national interest." It also says agencies must ensure that funding proposals "advance the president's policy........

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