With two minutes to midnight, the Senate is taking up President Trump’s $9.4 billion rescission request to cancel unneeded appropriations this week. The House approved it on June 12. If the Senate amends the bill on the floor, the House will have to pass it again.

Friday, July 18, is the deadline. The Impoundment Control Act of 1974 sets the terms for a president to ask Congress to cancel appropriated spending. If Congress does not act within 45 days, the administration must spend the funds. After all, Congress exercises legislative powers, and the president must take care that the laws are faithfully executed.

Congress should agree to cancel these funds. Incorporating the savings into the baseline would reduce spending by around $100 billion over the next decade. That’s one-eightieth of the next decade’s $8 trillion in new borrowing, but Congress has to start somewhere.

Approving the request would open the door for the Office of Management and Budget to propose additional savings........

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