The White House announced Friday that it is canceling nearly $1 billion in congressionally approved spending, deploying a controversial pocket rescission strategy just days before the federal fiscal year ends. The cuts target immigrant services, health research, and international education programs, drawing swift bipartisan condemnation.
White House Moves to Cancel Nearly $1 Billion in Appropriations
The Trump administration moved to claw back almost $1 billion in federal spending approved by Congress, marking the second year the executive branch has relied on a rare budgetary maneuver to cancel appropriations. The Office of Management and Budget described the targeted funds as focused on the most harmful government spending. The administration says the funds are no longer necessary because illegal border crossings have diminished considerably. A White House press release announcing the funding rescissions notes that some of the organizations are led by people who worked in the administration of Democratic president Barack Obama. The rejected funding affects several programs and agencies serving immigrants, minority groups and Department of Health and Human Services research programs.
The package impacts several agencies, including the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Education, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Department of Justice. Among the specific cancellations are $567 million in HHS spending dedicated to services for refugees, asylees, and other migrants, which the administration alleges went to pro-illegal immigration programs and Non-Governmental Organizations that provided services to refugees, asylees, and other non-citizens and put unaccompanied children in harm's way. The administration also targeted $50 million for several other programs that aid immigrants and noncitizens, $70 million in Woke International Education grants and fellowships, and $56 million in Housing and Urban Development programs. The administration also lists programs under the DHS which it claimed laundered taxpayer dollars to provide “welfare” to undocumented immigrants.
To execute the cancellations, the White House invoked the Impoundment Control Act to deploy a pocket rescission, in which the president notifies Congress shortly before the end of the fiscal year that it doesn’t wish to spend funds that lawmakers appropriated. Under federal law, the president can propose rescinding budget authority, giving Congress a 45-day window to review and either approve or reject the request. However, by announcing the cuts with only days remaining before the fiscal year concludes, the administration makes it virtually impossible for lawmakers to complete that review process before the funds expire. The executive branch would effectively send the funds back to Congress using so-called pocket rescissions, a rare budgetary tactic that the Trump administration has used before to negate congressionally allocated spending.
[Congress] Trump cancels $1B Congress funding #ShortsPhoto: cbsnews.com
The fiscal year ends on Wednesday, only a few days away, and the House is not scheduled to return until after the midterm elections in November. The administration has argued that while the law gives Congress a 45-day period to accept or reject a White House decision to withhold funds, there is no way to follow that protocol if the action occurs less than 45 days before the end of the fiscal year. That argument has been challenged in court and criticized by lawyers and both Republican and Democratic lawmakers. The nonpartisan Government Accountability Office notes that when not enough time is given to consider this request or for funds to be used before they expire, the president is bypassing congressional authority over government funding.
A similar strategy was deployed last year, when the administration canceled $4.9 billion in foreign aid funds approved by Congress. That marked the first pocket rescission since 1977, during the Carter administration. The Supreme Court effectively allowed that rescission to proceed — staying a lower court order last September requiring those funds to be obligated — but noted that the order should not be read as a final determination on the merits of the rescission.
Lawmakers Launch Bipartisan Pushback Against OMB
The announcement immediately drew sharp rebukes from Capitol Hill. Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins, R-Maine, strongly criticized the administration’s action in a statement on Friday, pointing out that lawmakers were notified of an $810 million package of cuts without any prior warning or consultation, calling the administration’s move “unlawful” and stating she would work with her colleagues to address these illegal actions.
“The independent Government Accountability Office has concluded that pocket rescissions are unlawful and not permitted by the Impoundment Control Act. Any effort to rescind appropriated funds without congressional approval is a clear violation of the law.”
🚨 Trump Cancels Nearly $1 Billion in Congress-Approved Funding! | US Politics Update#DonaldTrump
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine
Collins also asserted that the Office of Management and Budget intentionally withheld these funds for months to execute this unlawful cancellation of appropriations that were approved on a bipartisan basis and signed into law. She wrote that as OMB is part of the executive branch, It does not get to decide which programs are worth funding. Senate Appropriations Vice Chair Patty Murray, D-Wash., went further in her assessment of the cuts.
“This is theft from the American people, plain and simple. These are funds Congress has delivered on a bipartisan basis and should be helping people – not cut off by a president more focused on building a ballroom than investing in families. Every Republican who voted for these bills should be furious, because [Russell] Vought is saying their votes don’t count.”
