White House Considers Dozens of New Ways to Seize Spending Power

The White House is considering challenging the constitutionality of a 50-year-old law limiting the president’s control over federal spending, easing the firing of civil servants, curbing pay and reining in independent agencies, according to a document seen by Bloomberg News.

The ideas, detailed in a slide presentation labeled “confidential,” outline the ways President Donald Trump’s administration could try to overhaul the federal bureaucracy and its workforce — though it’s unclear whether the president has the legal authority to carry out the suggested actions.

A quarrel over the Impoundment Act is a top priority for the new Trump administration as ...