The Trump administration announced Friday that it is canceling $810 million in previously approved federal spending, using a rarely invoked budget maneuver known as a “pocket rescission” that Congress and government watchdogs say oversteps presidential authority.
The targeted funds were largely earmarked for programs serving immigrants without legal status, along with diversity initiatives and other efforts the administration says do not benefit American citizens. The White House argues the cuts fall within its executive powers, but Congress and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) contend the maneuver exceeds what the president is legally allowed to do.
Of the total, $567 million comes from Health and Human Services programs that fund non-government organizations supporting refugees, asylees and other non-citizens. The administration is also seeking to rescind $25 million from education programs for migrant students, saying the money supported activities including an LGBT youth summit and a “Therapy for Latinx” workshop.
How a pocket rescission works
A pocket rescission allows the executive branch to propose canceling congressionally approved funds late enough in the fiscal year that Congress cannot act in time to stop it. Under the Impoundment Control Act, the president can propose rescissions, giving Congress 45 legislative days to respond. But by making the proposal near the end of the fiscal year — as the administration did both this time and in 2025 — the funds can effectively be withheld until the money expires with the budget year.
This is not the first time the administration has used the tactic. In 2025, President Trump canceled $4.9 billion through a pocket rescission, primarily targeting foreign aid.
Legal fight already underway
The GAO ruled in 2025 that pocket rescissions are not permitted under the Impoundment Control Act. Despite that finding, the Supreme Court allowed most of the earlier foreign-aid cuts to proceed. The Supreme Court has not yet ruled on whether the administration has illegally impounded funds more broadly during Trump’s second term, and this latest rescission — coming just days before the end of the fiscal year — could prompt another legal challenge.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) criticized the earlier use of the maneuver, saying: “Reasonable Republicans don’t have to go along with the madness; Republicans don’t have to be a rubber stamp for this carnage.”
The last rescission proposed by a president before Trump’s term was made by President Jimmy Carter in 1977.
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