Trump Uses Pocket Rescission to Claw Back $1B in Spending — SkimNews
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- Trump canceling nearly $1 billion in congressionally approved spending via a rare 'pocket rescission,' with most cuts aimed at Health and Human Services programs serving refugees and unaccompanied minors accused of being in the country illegally
- The administration also targeting a Department of Education migrant student program, a DOJ office focused on reducing racial tensions, HUD housing counseling, a minority business development initiative, and HHS grants it called 'outright harmful and blatantly ideological'
- The White House announcing the cuts with just five days left in the fiscal year and the House out of session through the November election, effectively neutralizing Congress's 45-day review window — a maneuver the Government Accountability Office says is illegal
- Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, calling the move an 'illegal action' and 'usurpation of Congress's appropriations powers,' saying it came without warning or consultation
- Trump having used a pocket rescission just one year ago for the first time in nearly 50 years to block $4.9 billion in foreign aid; the Supreme Court declined to block those cuts citing foreign affairs authority, and this year the move targets domestic spending
- Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) calling the action 'theft from the American people, plain and simple' and noting Democrats had pushed for language in recent spending negotiations to block such power grabs, but Republicans declined to go along
- Additional cuts detailed by the White House include $70 million for 'woke' international education programs, $28 million in HHS research grants, $9 million in debt relief for foreign countries funding climate policies, and $10 million withheld from a minority business development program
Why it matters: By announcing the $1 billion in cuts with only five days left in the fiscal year and the House out of session, the Trump administration has effectively foreclosed Congress's 45-day review window — making this the second pocket rescission in two years and the first ever targeting domestic spending, after the 2024 $4.9 billion foreign aid clawback the Supreme Court allowed to stand.
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