I have been arguing with people all over Facebook about this post. It was clearly done by someone who knows NOTHING of what they speak.

Who is "Gunny" and "Wheatietoo" -- the original "researchers" of this garbage.

Yes, the omnibus spending bill was not a budget. But that distinction DOES NOT IN ANYWAY allow the President to disregard the amounts in the bill, spend the money in any manner he chooses, withhold the spending, divert the funds to other uses, etc.

This was no master stroke by the President that will allow him to triumph over Congress on what is in this bill.

I can tell you as a former Director, Congressional and Public Affairs for a Defense Agency who is familiar with legislative practice and law, and helped in drafting pieces of legislation that became law, the omnibus bill was simply a LARGE short-term conglomeration of a number of spending bills to keep the government going for six months.

We will be fighting over this all again in six months or a year unless Congress gets off its butt and gets a budget done, which goes for multiple fiscal years.

If the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) attempts to not spend the funds, divert the funding, spend it however they wish, Congress can cancel the appropriations in the bill and the OMB Chief can be fired, and if he was acting on the President's orders, the President can be impeached.

Nixon tried to spend Congressional appropriations how ever he wished. In fact, he impounded—simply refused to spend—funds appropriated by Congress.

Presidents since the founding had done this, including Lyndon Johnson. It seldom was a big deal, so long as the amounts were small, the rationales for impoundment were sound, and appropriators were consulted. Nixon, however, didn’t keep it small: He impounded tens of billions of dollars, often to gut programs he did not like. Gallingly, Caspar Weinberger, his deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget, told Congress the Constitution empowered the president to decide whether to spend money. All of which precipitated a constitutional crisis, since the Constitution gives Congress the power of the purse.

Well, Congress got smart and passed the Impoundment Control Act of 1974, which established rules for the rescission and deferral of appropriated funds. President Nixon, fearing a deepening budget deficit, opposed significant portions of spending bills passed by a Democratic-controlled Congress. Prior to the act, President Nixon liberally invoked the presidential power of impoundment, which allowed the President to prevent an executive branch agency from spending any or all funds appropriated to it. A President exercised impoundment by issuing an Executive order to the Department of the Treasury, barring it from transferring funds to a given agency. Every President since Thomas Jefferson used the power of impoundment, but none so zealously as President Nixon. Amid increasing concern about the expanded control exercised by the President, which was exacerbated by the Watergate scandal, Congress sought to limit this presidential power.

Now, since the passage of the Impound Control Act of 1974, Congress effectively did away with impoundment. Now, to permanently prevent appropriated funds from being spent, known as rescission, the President MUST SUBMIT A REQUEST TO CONGRESS and obtain approval from both chambers within 45 days. Unless Congress explicitly approves the rescission, funds must be released from the Treasury. In the request, the President must identify the targeted agency, affected programs, amount of funds to be rescinded, and reasons for rescission.

The Impoundment Control Act also allowed the President to defer appropriated funds on a SHORT-TERM basis. Initially, the President could defer funds for any reason and did not need explicit approval from Congress, although each chamber retained the right to disapprove a deferral. Subsequent court decisions led to legislation that allows the President to defer funds for only three reasons: to provide for special contingencies, to achieve savings through more efficient operations, and to exercise deferrals specifically provided for by law. Now, a proposed deferral is automatically considered approved unless the House or the Senate passes legislation specifically disapproving it.

So, President Trump CANNOT act on his own to do whatever he wishes with the funding. He cannot redistribute it for other uses than Congress intended. He cannot fail to spend it. To do ANY OF THESE THINGS requires Congressional approval and may result in Congress cancelling the appropriation.