Trump claws back nearly $1B in approved spending — SkimNews
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- Trump is canceling nearly $1 billion in congressionally approved spending via a rare "pocket rescission," with OMB describing the cuts as targeting "the most harmful government spending."
- The cuts primarily hit HHS programs serving refugees and unaccompanied minors; other targets include a DOE migrant student program, DOJ racial tensions office, minority business initiative, HUD housing counseling, and HHS grants the White House called "outright harmful and blatantly ideological."
- Trump announced the cuts with only five days left in the fiscal year and the House out of session through November — the GAO calls the pocket rescission maneuver illegal, and Congress's 45-day review window is effectively moot.
- Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), chair of Senate Appropriations, called the move "illegal actions" and said "OMB does not get to decide which programs are worth funding."
- A year earlier, Trump issued the first pocket rescission in nearly 50 years, blocking $4.9 billion in foreign aid; the Supreme Court declined to intervene, citing foreign affairs authority — but this time the target is domestic programs.
- Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) called it "theft from the American people," noting Democrats had pushed language to prevent such actions but Republicans declined to include it.
- Specific line items include $70 million for "woke" international education programs, $28 million in HHS research, $9 million in debt relief for foreign countries funding climate policies, and $10 million for minority business development.
Why it matters: With Congress given 45 days to review but only 5 days remaining before fiscal year-end, the nearly $1 billion in cuts becomes nearly impossible to block — and Sen. Collins, the Republican chair of Senate Appropriations, publicly calling the action 'illegal' represents rare GOP pushback on executive overreach of Congress's power of the purse.
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