Senator Susan Collins of Maine, the chairwoman of the Appropriations Committee, joined top Democrats in insisting that the president does not have the power to “pick and choose” what to fund.

A top Senate Republican on Thursday accused President Trump of illegally refusing to spend $2.9 billion approved by Congress, teaming with Democrats in an early salvo in the simmering struggle between Congress and the White House over which has the ultimate power over federal spending.

Senator Susan Collins, Republican of Maine and the chairwoman of the Appropriations Committee, initiated a letter to the White House that was signed by Senator Patty Murray of Washington, the panel’s senior Democrat. The letter asserted that the administration had violated the six-month spending law approved by Congress earlier this month.

They pointed to a memo Mr. Trump had sent to Congress on Monday that declared that only a portion of the $12.4 billion designated as emergency funding in the legislation would actually be spent, “because I do not concur that the added spending is truly for emergency needs.”

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