Strengthen Congress’ Power of the Purse: Put U.S. CIS on Appropriations

Dear Colleague:

WASHINGTON, DC – (RealEstateRama) — Congress bears the responsibility for setting revenue and spending priorities, and much of the President’s job is to faithfully execute these laws. Congress has, however, ceded budget powers to the executive branch by letting agencies self-fund with user fees.

“Self-funding” agencies are largely unaccountable to Congress under divided government because any of the political branches can veto changes to statute. Congress needs to reassert its power of the purse by making agency budgets subject to appropriations.

Next week I will introduce a bill to begin this process with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the primary agency for implementing the President’s immigration executive orders. USCIS funds itself through application fees, which insulates it from the will of the American people as expressed through their representatives in Congress. Congress cannot effectively exercise its powers through the appropriations process to perform basic oversight functions and ensure the agency is executing the laws faithfully.

Putting USCIS on appropriations ensures that unelected bureaucrats are held accountable and provides transparency for how the federal government is raising and spending money.

My simple proposal—the Use Spending for Congressional Immigration Supervision (USCIS) Act—will do just that: make USCIS subject to appropriations.

Let’s restore Congress’ power of the purse to hold the executive branch accountable.

Sincerely,

Dave Brat
Member of Congress