Lawmakers Look to Crack Down on White House's Discretion in Allocating Agency Funding Democrats decry "unelected officials" who make spending decisions in communities they do not understand. Senior Correspondent Lawmakers are renewing their push to restrict the flexibility the executive branch has in allocating and revoking federal funding, looking to claw back their power of the purse after what they identified as abuses by recent administrations. The House Budget Committee held a hearing on strategies to reassert Congress' power, with a panel of government and outside watchdogs largely agreeing that reforms are necessary. Lawmakers noted that "cornerstone" spending laws such as the Antideficiency Act and the Impoundment Control Act are toothless as the executive branch has ignored legal decisions issued by the Government Accountability Office to enforce them. The White House and agencies have issued interpretations of the laws that give themselves far more latitude than Congress ever intended to provide, the lawmakers said.