Trump Tries Pocket Rescission to Claw Back $810 Million in Approved Funds
President Trump asked Congress to cancel $810 million in already approved federal spending, using a maneuver called a pocket rescission. More than half of the proposed cuts target the Health and Human Services Department’s Office of Refugee Resettlement. The Government Accountability Office has said the approach illegally bypasses Congress’s constitutional spending power.
The administration submitted the request through OMB Director Russell Vought, arguing the 1974 Impoundment Control Act permits it. That law, passed after Richard Nixon’s impoundments, normally gives Congress 45 continuous session days to review rescissions. Here, the request arrived five days before fiscal year’s end on Sept. 30.
More than half of the $810 million would affect HHS’s Office of Refugee Resettlement. GAO says the maneuver would improperly let a president shorten fixed-period funds’ availability, effectively altering spending law without Congress. Trump previously sought $4.9 billion in foreign aid cuts, including $3.2 billion for USAID.
If the funds lapse, groups serving refugees, immigrants, and children may face uncertainty or reduced capacity. The dispute could also test Congress’s power of the purse and invite further litigation over presidential impoundment. How courts and lawmakers respond may shape future budget fights and the stability of approved federal programs.