Trump Defies Congress and Eliminates a Website Requiring him to Show that he Was Spending Appropriations as Intended

Mar 25, 2025

If Donald Trump were really concerned with government “efficiency,” you would think he would be eager to demonstrate his transparency about funding. Instead, the White House has taken down a website required by law that lists upcoming congressionally mandated spending.

Roll Call has the news:

As of Monday morning, the Office of Management and Budget was no longer making “apportionments” of previously enacted appropriations available on the website it set up for that purpose after Congress mandated the requirement starting in 2022. The site now simply says: “Page not found.” …
“This is in direct violation of federal law,” said Faith Williams, director of the effective and accountable government program at the Project on Government Oversight, known as POGO. “The apportionments database is a critical tool for Congress and the public to hold the executive branch accountable for its spending.” …
The law was in part a response to actions taken during the first Trump administration, whereby then-Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought, through delegation of authority to political appointees at the agency, directed agencies to withhold the obligation of funds to Ukraine using apportionment footnotes. Vought is once again the White House budget office director after his party-line Senate confirmation vote earlier this year.

So if you’re keeping track, the White House has ignored the will of Congress by taking down a site intended to prevent the administration from ignoring the will of Congress. It sure looks like “ignoring the will of Congress” is a central theme of this administration.

The Executive Watch is a project of the Institute for the Study of Modern Authoritarianism, and its flagship publication The UnPopulist, to track in an ongoing way the abuses of the power of the American presidency. It sorts these abuses into five categories: Personal Grift, Political Corruption, Presidential Retribution, Power Consolidation, and Policy Illegality. Click the category of interest to get an overview of all the abuses under it.

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