Nixon Withholds Over a Third of Domestic Discretionary Spending

President Richard Nixon dramatically escalated the use of impoundment in 1972, refusing to spend more than a third of all domestic discretionary appropriations Congress had authorized, including funds for housing, water treatment, and social programs. Nixon argued that spending the full amounts would be inflationary and that executive authority allowed him to withhold congressionally approved money. Dozens of impoundment suits were filed in federal courts as states and program beneficiaries challenged the freezes. Congress responded by creating the Joint Study Committee on Budget Control to design a formal budget process that would constrain presidential spending discretion.