The White House announced the package on Friday, saying the administration was using a “pocket rescission” to eliminate unspent money across 11 funding accounts at seven departments and agencies. The largest reduction is $567 million from Health and Human Services programmes serving refugees, asylum seekers and other non-citizens.
The action immediately reopened a constitutional and statutory dispute over control of federal spending. Congress normally has 45 days of continuous session to consider a presidential rescission proposal under the Impoundment Control Act of 1974. The Government Accountability Office, Congress’s non-partisan watchdog, says the law does not permit an administration to withhold money until it expires, effectively achieving a rescission without congressional approval.
Trump sent the proposal with only five days remaining before the September 30 end of the fiscal year. The administration argues that the law permits the president to propose rescissions and temporarily withhold the affected funds while Congress considers them. Critics contend that timing the request so close to expiration prevents Congress from exercising the review period envisaged by the statute.
Senator Susan Collins, the Republican chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said the administration acted without warning or consultation and called the move illegal. She said the Office of Management and Budget had intentionally withheld funds for months and was attempting to usurp Congress’s appropriations authority.
“OMB is an agency of the executive branch. It does not get to decide which programs are worth funding,” Collins said, adding that she would work with colleagues to address the action.
Senator Patty Murray, the Democratic vice-chair of the committee, also accused the administration of overriding bipartisan spending decisions. The dispute crosses party lines because the appropriations affected by the rescission were enacted by Congress and signed into law.
The White House defended the reductions as an effort to eliminate programmes it considers wasteful, duplicative or inconsistent with administration priorities. It said lower levels of illegal border crossings had reduced the need for some immigration-related services. Its statement also criticised grants associated with diversity, equity and inclusion policies, climate programmes and services for non-citizens.
Beyond the $567 million HHS reduction, the White House listed $70 million from international education programmes, $56 million from Housing and Urban Development housing-counselling support, $28 million from HHS research grants and $25 million from Education Department programmes for migrant students.
The package also includes $15 million from a Homeland Security programme providing services including legal assistance, mental-health support and cultural orientation; $15 million from the Justice Department’s Community Relations Service; and $10 million from a minority business development initiative. The administration also identified $9 million in international debt-relief funding connected to environmental programmes and $5 million from the HHS Office of Minority Health.
The legal dispute centres on whether a president can use the rescission process near the end of a funding period to allow appropriations to lapse before Congress has a meaningful opportunity to reject the request. GAO says a president may propose a cancellation, but if Congress does not enact it within the statutory period, the money must be made available for prudent obligation before it expires.
The administration used the same pocket-rescission approach last year to block $4.9 billion in foreign assistance. The Supreme Court declined at that stage to stop the withholding while litigation continued, with its order addressing the immediate dispute rather than issuing a definitive ruling on the broader legality of pocket rescissions.
Friday’s action differs in its concentration on domestic programmes, particularly immigration services, education, housing and health-related grants. The White House said the rescissions affect the departments of Commerce, Education, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development and Justice, along with international assistance programmes.
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