Republican lawmakers are expressing dissatisfaction with President Trump’s tactics to undermine Congress’ power of the purse. Despite GOP senators agreeing to a bipartisan government funding bill that would prevent the Trump administration from finalizing a federal rule allowing political appointees to steer money towards grants “aligned with the president’s agenda,” the administration continues to create new rules for federal grants and then deny funding based on them, only to be repeatedly shot down in court. Lawmakers have also criticized White House budget director Russ Vought for delaying the release of cash for congressionally backed programs.

Republicans are watching for clues about whether Vought will claim the authority to nix appropriations in the final weeks of the fiscal year through what’s known as a pocket rescission, a move he used last year to unilaterally cancel $4.9 billion in foreign aid. Republicans have already taken steps to stop the White House from shirking Congress’ intent on spending by inserting stricter language into bipartisan funding bills Trump signed into law for the current fiscal year. However, some Republican lawmakers are resisting the administration’s push this summer to enact billions of dollars for military and agriculture programs through a party-line budget reconciliation package.

The reliance on the reconciliation process to skirt the Senate filibuster is seen as a key step to achieve Vought’s “paradigm shift” designed to make funding negotiations less bipartisan, so Republicans don’t have to agree to nondefense increases in order to get enough votes to boost military budgets. The Supreme Court has yet to conclusively rule on the president’s spending tactics, and many Democrats argue that Republicans shouldn’t rely on courts to defend Congress’ authority. GOP leaders have repeatedly bucked Democratic calls for action, including reversing specific grant cancellations or nullifying Trump’s pocket rescission last fall.

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