[BostonCard]

Wow... 47 years after I took PoliSci 10, I find out Professor Horn was WRONG!  Here I always thought, to quote Wikipedia: "The Constitution also grants Congress exclusively the power to appropriate funds. This power of the purse is one of Congress' primary checks on the executive branch."

This seems neither here nor there.  This was not a case where Trump tried to take funds from elsewhere to fight COVID-19 and was sued by Congress to stop it.  It's a case where he never even requested the appropriation.  Let's review how funding for disasters works in the real world.

https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/RL33226.html

This report provides summary information on emergency supplemental appropriations enacted after major disasters since 1989. During the 20-year span from FY1989 through the present, Congress appropriated almost $271 billion in constant 2008 dollars. Most of the appropriations were preceded by a presidential request for supplemental funding.

(emphasis mine)

While there was nothing stopping congress from making an emergency appropriation the President didn't ask for (and I suppose you can fault congress for not doing so), in practice the executive branch is best positioned to know what it is going on and which agencies need what.

BC

[BostonCard]

Wow... 47 years after I took PoliSci 10, I find out Professor Horn was WRONG!  Here I always thought, to quote Wikipedia: "The Constitution also grants Congress exclusively the power to appropriate funds. This power of the purse is one of Congress' primary checks on the executive branch."

This seems neither here nor there.  This was not a case where Trump tried to take funds from elsewhere to fight COVID-19 and was sued by Congress to stop it.  It's a case where he never even requested the appropriation.  Let's review how funding for disasters works in the real world.

https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/RL33226.html

This report provides summary information on emergency supplemental appropriations enacted after major disasters since 1989. During the 20-year span from FY1989 through the present, Congress appropriated almost $271 billion in constant 2008 dollars. Most of the appropriations were preceded by a presidential request for supplemental funding.

(emphasis mine)

While there was nothing stopping congress from making an emergency appropriation the President didn't ask for (and I suppose you can fault congress for not doing so), in practice the executive branch is best positioned to know what it is going on and which agencies need what.

BC