Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026

Floor Speech

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Mr. MERKLEY. Mr. President, I call up my amendment No. 4287 and ask that it be reported by number.

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Mr. MERKLEY. Mr. President, article I, section 9 of our Constitution puts the power of the purse here in Congress. Our Founders considered this the difference between a democratic republic where the people's representatives design and choose the programs and fund them and an authoritarian state where a King decides what the programs are.

The Supreme Court has reaffirmed that vision multiple times, including in 1975 when it said a President could not impound funds and in 1996 where it said Congress could not delegate the power of the purse because it is given to us.

But an aberration has occurred--an aberration in which a President can slow up funds, ask for Congress to undo the law that funded a program at the end of a fiscal year, utilize a grace period, and then the program reaches the end of the year and poof, like Cinderella's carriage, it turns into a pumpkin, and the work we passed by law and authorized by law is undone with no vote of Congress.

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Mr. MERKLEY. That is a violation of the Constitution. We have the responsibility to defend the power of the purse. Let's honor our oath to a democratic republic.

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Mr. MERKLEY. We are not an authoritarian state as long as we hold onto the responsibilities assigned to us by the Constitution.

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Mr. MERKLEY. Mr. President, pursuant to section 904 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 and the waiver provisions of the applicable budget resolution, I move to waive applicable sections of the act and applicable budget points of order for the purposes of the pending measure because it is our responsibility to defend Congress and the Constitution and preserve a democratic republic. Vote on Motion

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Mr. MERKLEY.

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