Roby’s bill would prohibit the expenditure of any money — no matter whether from appropriated funds, fees, or anywhere else — to enact the policy changes outlined in the administration directives. “It’s very straightforward,” Roby said in an interview Tuesday. “It lays out specifically that no funds will be used for these things.”
Roby explained that she supported the strategy last month in which Congress funded all of the government on a long-term basis except DHS. “We did that so that we could have this fight on the president’s overreach,” she said. “I think that this prohibition language is the best way to do that.”
Congress uses such language all the time. For example, the spending bill passed in December contained more than 450 “none of the funds” prohibitions. Lawmakers have passed thousands of such prohibitions over the years.
Roby said she filed her new bill as a standalone measure but believes the best way to enact it would be as part of the DHS appropriation.
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