Nixon impounds Clean Water Act funds and housing program money, sparking Congress to pass Impoundment Control Act of 1974

Following his 1972 reelection, President Nixon announced major impoundments of congressionally appropriated funds, including a moratorium on subsidized housing programs, suspension of community development spending, and the controversial withholding of Clean Water Act funds that Congress had allocated to states. Nixon argued presidential impoundment was a constitutional power; Congress and courts disagreed. The Supreme Court ruled against Nixon in Train v. City of New York (1975), and Congress passed the Impoundment Control Act of 1974 to limit the president's ability to withhold appropriated funds.