The Trump administration announced Friday it is canceling nearly $1 billion in congressionally approved spending, using a rare and contested power known as a pocket rescission. The bulk of the cuts target Health and Human Services programs that serve refugees and unaccompanied minors, which the Office of Management and Budget said are no longer necessary because illegal border crossings have dropped considerably. Also on the list are $28 million in HHS research grants, $70 million for what the administration called "woke" international education programs, and smaller sums for minority business development and housing counseling.
The move bypasses the usual 45-day congressional review period by leaving only five days in the federal fiscal year, with the House out of session until after the November election. The Government Accountability Office has called this maneuver illegal, and Senator Susan Collins, a Republican who chairs the Appropriations Committee, said it "usurps Congress's appropriations powers." Senator Patty Murray, the top Democrat on the committee, described the action as "theft from the American people."
This is the second pocket rescission under Trump; last year he used the same tactic to block $4.9 billion in foreign aid, and the Supreme Court declined to intervene. This time the targets are domestic, including health-related programs. The administration argues the tool is legally permissible, but critics say it fits a broader pattern of executive overreach that erodes Congress's constitutional power of the purse.