The Speaker’s Lobby: A Palpably Unfair Act

D-Wash., the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, warned against such a move.

“This is not about efficiency, this is about power,” Murray said. “The power to spend taxpayer dollars rests with Congress, not with an unelected agency head or the president. We cannot allow this blatant power grab to go unchecked.”

The showdown between Congress and the administration over spending authority is just heating up. With the looming government funding deadline and the specter of a potential government shutdown, the stakes are high.

As football fans learned from referee Shawn Hochuli’s lesson on Rule 12, Section 3, Article 4, the rules are clear and must be followed. In the game of politics, the Constitution lays out the guidelines for spending authority, and any attempt to circumvent those rules will not go unchallenged.

In the end, it will be up to the lawmakers on Capitol Hill to uphold the principles of the Constitution and ensure that the power of the purse remains in the hands of Congress where it rightfully belongs. Only time will tell how this political standoff will play out and whether the Democrats will be able to score a victory against the administration’s attempts to seize control of federal spending.