President Trump’s declaration that he would personally control the proceeds from oil produced in Venezuela drew instant condemnation on Wednesday from Democrats in Congress who noted that the president had no constitutional authority for such an undertaking.
“The president cannot grab Venezuela’s oil for his own slush fund. Period,” Senator Chris Van Hollen, Democrat of Maryland and a member of the Appropriations Committee, said on Wednesday.
“The bottom line is this — their plan is insane,” Senator Chris Murphy, Democrat of Connecticut and another member of the spending panel, said on Twitter. “Take Venezuela’s oil at gunpoint and use it run the country from DC. America is nation building again.”
While the administration’s plans for handling what could be billions of dollars of revenue from oil sales are still taking shape, Mr. Trump announced on Tuesday that he intended to determine how the money is distributed.
“This Oil will be sold at its Market Price, and that money will be controlled by me, as President of the United States of America, to ensure it is used to benefit the people of Venezuela and the United States!” Mr. Trump said on social media.
The Constitution vests power for deciding how federal dollars are spent with Congress, declaring that: “No money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in consequence of appropriations made by law.” Federal law also prohibits the executive branch from spending money in excess of amounts approved by Congress.
The Trump administration has already aggressively challenged congressional authority over spending on multiple fronts and has also undertaken projects, such as the new White House ballroom through private financing with donations outside of congressional review.
Lawmakers said that Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in closed briefings about Venezuela on Wednesday, said that the money generated by the sale of Venezuelan oil would not be deposited in the U.S. Treasury. In remarks afterward, he suggested that approach as well.
“We’re going to sell it in the marketplace at market rates, not at the discounts Venezuela was getting,” Mr. Rubio said. “That money will then be handled in such a way that we will control how it is dispersed in a way that benefits the Venezuelan people — not corruption, not the regime.”
Mr. Trump has claimed broad discretion over spending in other cases, suggesting earlier that he wanted to return some of the revenue from tariffs he has imposed in the form of a $2,000 rebate check to taxpayers. Members of both parties raised questions about the president’s authority to do so, and White House officials later acknowledged that House and Senate approval would be required.
The Democrats conceded that putting pressure on the White House over the handling of the money would require Republicans to join them.
“What are Republicans willing to do?” asked Mr. Van Hollen. “Are Republicans willing to stand up for the Constitution and separation of powers or not? So far, they’ve been unwilling to do that. They have been unwilling to challenge Trump on any of these issues.”
Carl Hulse is the chief Washington correspondent for The Times, primarily writing about Congress and national political races and issues. He has nearly four decades of experience reporting in the nation’s capital.
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