Congress has finally forced OMB to show members, staff, and the public the receipts.

This analysis was originally published by The Hill, here.

As members of Congress and staff dig into President Biden’s 2023 budget request, they have a new tool for tracking when, where, and how the president is authorizing federal agencies to spend money — but Congress, and the public, needs to know this new tool exists. It comes in the form of apportionment transparency, an instrument designed to reinforce Congress’s power of the purse.

In Federalist No. 58, James Madison described the power of the purse — or the legislature’s authority to spend taxpayer dollars — as perhaps “the most complete and effectual weapon with which any constitution can arm the immediate representatives of the people.” The founders intended for lawmakers, not the president, to be in charge of tax and spending decisions…

Read the entire analysis at The Hill, here.