If one steps back from the theater of politics and looks at this proposal through the lens of constitutional procedure the underlying issue is not the oil itself but the precedent it suggests. The United States government is structured in such a way that the power to appropriate funds resides with Congress for a reason. This separation ensures that no single branch can take resources whether foreign or domestic and bypass the checks that keep authority balanced. The Miscellaneous Receipts Act is not a technicality it is one of the statutory guardrails that prevent executive overreach from morphing into something more permanent and far more difficult to reverse.
If Venezuelan oil were sold under US administration the moment those proceeds touched the machinery of our government they would by law fall under protocols designed to preserve accountability. To divert them elsewhere perhaps into a president controlled fund would be to assert a degree of fiscal sovereignty that the Constitution never intended for the executive. Absolute control over income streams independent of Congressional oversight is the kind of power that can rescript the relationship between the branches of government in subtle but profound ways. History shows that when leaders can direct revenue without legislative interference the slide toward personal rule can happen quietly and quickly. In a republic the small breaches of process are often more dangerous than the grand scandals because they normalize the idea that certain rules are optional.
If one steps back from the theater of politics and looks at this proposal through the lens of constitutional procedure the underlying issue is not the oil itself but the precedent it suggests. The United States government is structured in such a way that the power to appropriate funds resides with Congress for a reason. This separation ensures that no single branch can take resources whether foreign or domestic and bypass the checks that keep authority balanced. The Miscellaneous Receipts Act is not a technicality it is one of the statutory guardrails that prevent executive overreach from morphing into something more permanent and far more difficult to reverse.
If Venezuelan oil were sold under US administration the moment those proceeds touched the machinery of our government they would by law fall under protocols designed to preserve accountability. To divert them elsewhere perhaps into a president controlled fund would be to assert a degree of fiscal sovereignty that the Constitution never intended for the executive. Absolute control over income streams independent of Congressional oversight is the kind of power that can rescript the relationship between the branches of government in subtle but profound ways. History shows that when leaders can direct revenue without legislative interference the slide toward personal rule can happen quietly and quickly. In a republic the small breaches of process are often more dangerous than the grand scandals because they normalize the idea that certain rules are optional.