There are lessons from the Nixon era in Trump’s attempts to freeze spending

Chief Justice John Roberts greets President Donald Trump as the president arrives to deliver an address to a joint session of Congress, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Half a century ago, Congress protected its power of the purse, and conservatives balked at letting presidents disobey lawmakersÕ instructions. (The New York Times)

Before President Donald Trump asserted that he had the constitutional power to refuse to release money that Congress had directed him to spend, another president made that same bold claim. It did not end well.

“The constitutional right for the president of the United States to impound funds,” President Richard Nixon said at a 1973 news conference, was “absolutely clear.”

Nixon said he had the unilateral right to block — or impound — billions of dollars that Cong