Lawmakers Rip Trump Over ‘Illegal’ Pocket Rescission Move—What We Know - Newsweek

President Donald Trump's administration announced Friday that he utilized a "pocket rescission" to cut nearly $1 billion in what he calls "the most harmful government spending."

In the announcement, the administration said $567 million was being cut from taxpayer-funded Health and Human Services (HHS) funds for noncitizens, $15 million from former President Joe Biden-era Department of Homeland Security programs to provide welfare to "illegal aliens," $25 million in educational programs for noncitizens, along with other rescissions to numerous other programs and agencies.

Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine reacted to the announcement and ripped into the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), saying, "Without warning or consultation, Congress just received an $810 million package of pocket rescissions from the Administration. This is the most recent attempt by this Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to undermine Congress’s Constitutional power of the purse. This move shows that OMB intentionally withheld these funds for months to execute this unlawful cancellation of appropriations that were approved on a bipartisan basis and signed into law."

Collins added that the OMB does not get to decide what programs are worth funding and said the actions were "illegal."

"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. I will work with my colleagues to address these illegal actions," Collins later concluded.

This is not the first time Collins has called out the administration over retracting funds.

Newsweek reached out to the White House via email on Friday night for comment.

According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), a pocket rescission is when a president asks Congress to cancel funding close to the end of the fiscal year before they can potentially be used for any new obligations. The fiscal year ends in five days, on September 30.

The move seemingly thwarts Congress' power by not allowing the 45 allotted days to respond, the GAO highlights.

The office says pocket rescissions are not legal, adding that "Congress holds the power of the purse—approving a budget and appropriating funds. Presidents and executive branch agencies are responsible for administering those funds."

In the Friday night announcement, the administration touted Trump's use of the rescission, highlighting the "long-neglected Presidential authorities provided to him under the Impoundment Control Act" and noted a similar move last year. That marked the first time in nearly 50 years that a president used a pocket rescission.

Senator Patty Murray, a Washington Democrat, said the move was a "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 [OMB Director Russell] Vought is saying their votes don’t count," Murray added in part.

Senator Jeff Merkley, an Oregon Democrat, also said the rescission is illegal. "This violates the core separation of powers embedded in our constitution in which it is the Congress, not the president, who decides what programs are designed and at what level they are funded," he said in part.

Connecticut Democratic Senator Chris Murphy said on X, "Senate Republicans had chance after chance to stop Trump’s illegal seizure of taxpayer money. Time after time, they pledged allegiance to Trump instead of to citizens. And he’ll keep rolling them if the Senate doesn’t change hands."

The OMB reacted to the announcement on X Friday, saying, "Wasteful funding? Rescinded. We will use every fiscal tool at our disposal to deliver savings for the American people."

The administration says it is cutting $15 million by pulling the Department of Justice's Community Relations Service and $9 million from debt relief to foreign countries that fund climate change policies, the announcement says.

Another $28 million is being cut from "overfunded and unaligned" HHS research programs and $5 million from the HHS Office of Minority Health, per the announcement. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's counseling support for non-government organizations that "Peddle DEI and Discriminate Based on Race" is getting slashed by $56 million and $10 million in FY 2026 is being rescinded from the Minority Business Development Agency, according to the notice.

In addition, $70 million is being axed from funds earmarked for "Woke" international education and another $10 million for Biden-era programs the Trump administration claims "Aid and Abet the Entry of Aliens."

Newsweek’s reporters and editors used Martyn, our AI assistant, to produce this story. Learn more about Martyn here. Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Edward T. Cummins