Keep the Watchdogs Running Act

Enumerated powers · passes

Congress has the power to appropriate funds and to organize the executive branch under Article I, Section 8, Clause 18 (the Necessary and Proper Clause) and Article I, Section 9, Clause 7 (Appropriations Clause). Authorizing an existing office to continue operations during a lapse in appropriations is a valid exercise of Congress's spending and oversight powers.

Bill of Rights · passes

The bill does not implicate any of the first ten amendments. It does not restrict speech, religion, assembly, press, petition, arms, quartering, search and seizure, self-incrimination, due process, takings, trial rights, or cruel and unusual punishment. It is purely administrative.

Individual liberty · passes

The bill does not restrict individual liberty or property. It only allows federal inspectors general to continue their existing oversight functions during a shutdown, which does not impose new burdens on individuals. Any oversight is already authorized by law and subject to due process.

Decentralization · passes

The bill does not consolidate power upward. It merely allows existing federal oversight offices to continue functioning during a lapse in appropriations. The functions are already federal, and the bill does not expand their jurisdiction or create new federal authority. It does not affect the ability of individuals, localities, or states to handle their own affairs.

Due process and takings · passes

The bill does not deprive anyone of life, liberty, or property without due process, nor does it take private property for public use without just compensation. It is a routine appropriations-related measure that does not affect individual rights.