Jamie Raskin, speaking at a Center for American Progress Action event, says once a president signs an appropriations act it is law: he cannot impound, redirect or re-channel funds for USAID, the Department of Education or the Department of State. Citing Article I, Section 8, Clause 17 and Article IV, Section 3, Clause 2, he argues Congress governs federal buildings and that bulldozing the East Wing was not the president's call. "That's our house."
The receipt
- Who
- Jamie Raskin
- Where
- interview - live Q&A with an audience, event not named
- Original footage
- The Financial Express · watch the full video from this moment
- Length
- 52 seconds, unedited within the cut
- Plays
- 389 on Instagram
Read the transcript
We've got the power to appropriate money. If you're a president and you don't like what we're doing, well veto it and we'll try to override it. But if you sign it and it's the law, it's the law, and Appropriations Act has all the force of any other law. You can't impound it, you can't redirect it, you can't steal it, you can't re -channel it. If we say you spend money for USAID or the Department of Education or the Department of State, you spend that money. That is not optional, okay? And we've got the power to regulate federal buildings. Article I, Section 8, Clause 17. Article IV, Section 3, Clause 2. That is us. If the president can bulldoze the East Wing of the White House, he can bulldoze the West Wing of the White House. He could burn the whole thing down like the British did in the War of 1812. It's not his house. That's our house. That belongs to the people of the United States.
Machine transcript of the clip's audio; names are checked, small words may differ.