USA26 September, 20262 min read
Trump Cancels Nearly $1 Billion In Congress-Approved Immigrant And Diversity Funding
Trump canceled roughly $810 million in congressionally approved immigrant, refugee, and diversity funding. Used a rare, contested pocket rescission authority to claw back funds.
Pocket rescission announced
President Donald Trump canceled nearly $1 billion in spending approved by Congress, using a rare and contested power to axe funding for immigrant services and diversity-focused initiatives.
Trump’s Office of Management and Budget described the funding cut as focused on “the most harmful government spending.”
The White House said the funds were no longer necessary because illegal border crossings have diminished considerably.
Sen. Susan Collins condemned the action as coming “without warning or consultation,” and she said she would work to address “these illegal actions.”
Congressional power challenged
The Government Accountability Office said the maneuver, known as a “pocket rescission,” is illegal. Collins said the delay was “a usurpation of Congress’s appropriations powers,” and she argued that “OMB is an agency of the executive branch.”
The White House said the president would claw back the spending through a controversial maneuver called a “pocket rescission,” in which the president notifies Congress shortly before the end of the fiscal year that it doesn’t wish to spend funds that lawmakers appropriated. The fiscal year ends on Wednesday, and the White House action set the funds up to essentially be canceled, according to CBS News.
Programs and lawmakers react
The rescissions targeted services for refugees and unaccompanied minors through the Department of Health and Human Services, and the White House also rescinded $70 million for “Woke International Education” grants and fellowships.
The White House also rescinded $50 million for several other programs that aid immigrants and noncitizens, and it rescinded $56 million in Housing and Urban Development programs, according to CBS News.
Sen. Patty Murray called the move “theft from the American people, plain and simple,” and she said the funds Congress delivered on a bipartisan basis should be helping people.
The White House said it was using “long-neglected Presidential authorities” to deploy the first “pocket rescission” in 50 years last year by blocking $4.9 billion in congressionally approved foreign aid.