purse strings

He’s done that mainly by using OMB, the White House office that oversees spending, to control the day-to-day purse strings of federal agencies — and deliberately keeping Congress in the dark along the way.

There were also tensions and petty jealousies between different sets of increasingly overwhelmed foster parents and with Sothea, who controlled the project’s purse strings.

Lower GST rates coincide with the beginning of a long festive season when Indians typically open their purse strings to buy everything from new cars to clothes.

Now that is over, it's not just the government's purse strings that have been set, but the political priorities alongside.

The EPA is potentially facing tighter purse strings.