US: White House Rescinds Spending Freeze Memo, First Major Setback For Trump

The White House Office of Management and Budget yesterday rescinded a memorandum calling on federal government agencies to freeze spending while a review was carried out to ensure compliance with President Donald Trump's executive orders.

• The episode is the first major setback for the second Trump administration, demonstrating the limits of White House authority over spending. The primary takeaway is that Trump will have to lean on Congress, if he is to enact meaningful and durable change to federal spending.
• It also shows that Democrats can offer a robust opposition to Trump's executive overreach. Moreover, the public backlash indicates that the Trump White House may have overestimated its mandate to impose sweeping reforms of the federal government, something that could complicate efforts to find savings to offset the cost of their legislative agenda.  
• Axios notes that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has demanded the creation of "strike teams" to combat the budget reconciliation plan by Republicans, likely preparing a messaging campaign warning that Trump could target popular entitlement programmes to fund tax cuts.
• The Senate Budget Committee will meet at 12:00 ET 17:00 GMT today to vote on discharging the nomination of Russel Vought, Trump's pick to lead the OMB, for a full Senate confirmation vote. Democrats are likely to utilise every procedural tool available to obfuscate his confirmation, although ultimately they cannot block him without four dissenting Republican votes.