Susan Collins accuses Trump of illegally refusing to spend $2.9bn appropriated by Congress

                      Susan Collins for Senator

 *Elon Musk’s Congressional Outreach Clashes with Senators’ Accusations Over Unspent Funds*

On the same day Elon Musk assured Fox News that his team strives to “keep Congress informed” about efforts to reduce federal spending, a bipartisan pair of senators accused the White House of unlawfully withholding billions in congressionally approved funds.

Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), the panel’s ranking Democrat, sent a letter to the White House challenging President Trump’s refusal to allocate $2.9 billion in funds already appropriated by Congress. The dispute centers on the emergency budget bill passed last week to prevent a government shutdown.

The senators directed their letter to Russell Vought, Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), in response to a memo Trump issued at Vought’s urging. In that memo, the president rejected Congress’s emergency designations for 11 specific appropriations, claiming executive discretion over spending decisions.

However, Collins and Murray argued that the law does not grant the president selective authority to approve or deny individual emergency funds. “The President has a binary choice: He must concur with all or none of Congress’s emergency designations,” they wrote. “Just as the President does not have a line-item veto, he does not have the ability to pick and choose which emergency spending to designate.”

Emphasizing adherence to statutory requirements, the senators stressed that the administration must follow the law “as written—not as we would like it to be.” Their letter underscores growing tensions between Congress and the White House over spending authority, particularly regarding emergency funds that lawmakers argue were legally mandated for release.

The clash highlights broader debates over executive power and congressional oversight, with legislators asserting their constitutional role in determining federal expenditures. As Musk’s team engages with Congress on cost-cutting measures, this dispute serves as a reminder of the ongoing tug-of-war between legislative intent and executive discretion in budget enforcement.