By delaying its ruling on Donald Trump’s illegal impoundment of congressionally authorized funds, the Supreme Court—specifically Chief Justice John Roberts—is sending a dangerous message to the American people. The Court has had five days to decide a straightforward constitutional issue: Does a president have the power to override Congress’s control of federal spending? The answer, according to the Constitution and the Impoundment Control Act of 1974, is an unequivocal no. Yet, the justices continue to stall, giving Trump de facto permission to violate the law.
At stake is more than just $2 billion in frozen foreign aid. The question before the Court is whether the separation of powers still exists in the United States. Congress holds the power of the purse. It decides how tax dollars are spent. A president who refuses to follow those spending laws is breaking the Constitution and their oath of office—full stop. This is not a gray area or a matter of interpretation. It is a blatant violation, and the Court’s refusal to act immediately suggests that it is searching for a way to justify Trump’s lawlessness rather than enforce the law.
Roberts and the Court’s conservative majority have a choice: They can reaffirm the basic structure of American government by ruling against Trump, or they can tell the American people that the Constitution is effectively dead. If they allow this impoundment to stand, what stops him from withholding Social Security payments, veterans’ benefits, or infrastructure funding simply because he feels like it? A ruling in Trump’s favor would give the presidency unchecked power over government spending, making Congress irrelevant.
This is an urgent moment for American democracy. The Supreme Court must act now to contain Trump’s illegal power grab. If it does not, then it will be clear that the highest court in the land is no longer interested in upholding the Constitution—it is interested in justifying its destruction.
