President Donald Trump is canceling nearly $1 billion in spending approved by Congress, using a budgetary maneuver known as a pocket rescission. The cuts primarily target Health and Human Services programs serving refugees and unaccompanied minors, as well as programs focused on diversity and minority support. The administration argues the funds are no longer needed due to decreased illegal border crossings and labels the spending wasteful. This action is drawing criticism from some Republicans, who allege it oversteps Congress’s constitutional authority over appropriations.
The rescissions, totaling $810 million according to the Daily Caller, include $567 million from HHS accounts funding nonprofits serving refugees and asylees. Other cuts target $70 million for programs labeled “Woke International Education,” $56 million in HUD housing counseling grants, and $25 million for migrant student education. The White House also cited concerns about organizations led by former Obama administration officials, and alleged past issues with one recipient organization, Southwest Key Programs, which faced a Justice Department suit over alleged abuse of unaccompanied minors.
Senator Susan Collins, chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, condemned the move as an “usurpation of Congress’s appropriations powers” and an illegal impoundment. The Government Accountability Office has previously found pocket rescissions to violate the Impoundment Control Act. Collins also noted the lack of consultation with Congress and the timing of the announcement, made with just five days left in the fiscal year and the House out of session, effectively preventing a congressional response. Representative Rosa DeLauro accused the administration of stealing funds from communities.
This is not the first time the Trump administration has employed this tactic. A year ago, Trump rescinded $4.9 billion in foreign aid through a similar maneuver, a decision the Supreme Court declined to block, citing presidential authority over foreign affairs. While that case involved foreign aid, this year’s cuts target domestic spending. The Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought maintains the Impoundment Control Act does not prevent late-year rescissions.
Left-leaning outlets emphasize the impact on vulnerable populations and the administration’s disregard for congressional authority, while right-leaning coverage focuses on the administration’s rationale of reducing wasteful spending and the decline in illegal border crossings. Not in dispute is the scale of the funding cuts and the administration’s use of a rarely invoked budgetary tool.
Our reading is that the administration is deliberately testing the limits of its power over the appropriations process, despite warnings of illegality. The timing of the cuts, coinciding with congressional recess, suggests a calculated effort to bypass legislative oversight. The administration’s justification, focusing on decreased border crossings and wasteful spending, appears to be a rhetorical framing of a power play, given the acknowledged rarity of this budgetary tactic.
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