MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
A federal judge has temporarily blocked President Trump's plan to freeze federal assistance and grants while the administration conducts an ideological review of government initiatives after state and federal officials reported widespread confusion, even chaos when House press secretary Karoline Leavitt used her first news briefing yesterday to say that direct payments like Social Security, Medicare and food stamps are not affected.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
KAROLINE LEAVITT: This administration, if you are receiving individual assistance from the federal government, you will still continue to receive that. However, it is the responsibility of this president and this administration to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars.
MARTIN: But even with that caveat, Democratic lawmakers are saying this far exceeds the president's authority under the Constitution since the Constitution gives Congress the power to decide how much money the government spends and where it goes. We're going to ask a Republican lawmaker for his thoughts. Representative Pete Stauber of Minnesota is with us now. Good morning, Congressman.
PETE STAUBER: Good morning, Michel. How are you?
MARTIN: I'm good. Thanks for joining us. Look, I think you're at a Republican lawmakers retreat or strategy session, but I assume you're still in touch with your office. Are you hearing from constituents who worry that they're affected by these changes?
STAUBER: You know, we got some calls, but the fact of the matter is this is just a temporary pause in discretionary spending as the president said on the campaign trail, Michel, that we have to rein in our spending. We have a $36 trillion debt. And I, myself, have six children. The youngest are 3 and 4. We have to do better. We cannot continue to spend and spend and spend. Our economy will collapse.
And so I support the president's effort on looking at discretionary spending, whether it - you know, we make the determination - does that discretionary spending, Michel, make America safer? Does it make us more strong or stronger? And does it make us more prosperous? So those are the questions we ask on this discretionary spending. And we have consistently said, Michel, that the pause is not affecting individual's benefits...
MARTIN: OK.
STAUBER: ...Your SNAP benefits, your welfare benefits, your Pell grants that are coming to you. That is not going to be affected, and that's misinformation....
MARTIN: OK.
STAUBER: ...By my colleagues on the other side of the aisle.
MARTIN: OK. OK. Well, one reason we called you is that you sit on the Transportation Committee. The president's been very critical of the climate-related initiatives that were in the infrastructure bill passed in 2022, which does represent a huge investment in roads, bridges, you know, and the like, the biggest in a generation. Now, I know you voted against it, but even people who voted against it are seeing those projects in their district. What happens to them?
STAUBER: So the hard infrastructure projects, like the roads and bridges, the hard infrastructure projects, Michel, are going to continue to go through. They're going to look at them quickly and say, this is hard infrastructure. These roads and bridges are necessary for a safe traveling public. But what they are going to look at, for example, there was a 7.4 billion - that's with a B - billion dollars put aside for electric charging stations. And the federal government has installed 11 of them in the last three years. That's not a good return on our investment. So we're going to look at that discretionary spending in all the bills that have passed. And I think that's what the American people want.
MARTIN: But I would think that...
STAUBER: That's what the American people voted for...
MARTIN: Forgive me. I would...
STAUBER: ...To build a...
MARTIN: I would think that would be...
LEAVITT: Go ahead.
MARTIN: ...An operational issue, not a budget issue. But that really leads to my next question. The Constitution gives Congress the power of the purse. Why should the president be allowed to basically ignore decisions that Congress and congresspersons like yourself have made?
STAUBER: Well, I think that obviously going through the process right now, again, it's a temporary pause. Look, for example, the $50 million that the U.S. government was about to send into Gaza for condoms, the $30 million, Michel...
MARTIN: OK.
STAUBER: ...That was going to be spent on, you know, other items that we've found in just the first 26 hours.
MARTIN: OK, I can't...
STAUBER: Thirty hours.
MARTIN: I can't speak for the truth or falsity of that claim. I apologize, Congressman, but I have no independent knowledge of that. But having said that, the question - does this not undermine the authority that has been invested in you as a representative of your constituents?
STAUBER: I don't - I really don't believe it does. I think the president has every right to at least look at the spending that's happening. If it's egregious, it's got to stop. If it doesn't make America, Michel, safer, stronger and more prosperous, we have to look at our spending. Look at what's happened with inflation. It's crushing the American people.
MARTIN: All right. That is Republican Representative Pete Stauber. He represents a district in Minnesota. Congressman, thank you so much for joining us.
STAUBER: Thank you very much. Have a great day. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
