Overview

• The White House, through the Office of Management and Budget, published a letter to House Republican leader Mike Johnson requesting cancellation of previously approved foreign-aid funds before the fiscal year ends.
• Roughly $3.2 billion of the proposed $4.9 billion would fall on USAID programs, with the rest affecting State Department and other international aid accounts.
• The Government Accountability Office has said this end-of-year maneuver is illegal because it prevents Congress from exercising its 45-day review period.
• Bipartisan criticism followed, with Republican Senator Susan Collins and Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer calling the approach a violation of law.
• The request intensifies budget tensions that could lead to a shutdown after September 30 and follows earlier moves to curtail USAID and shift oversight to the State Department, with a Lancet-cited analysis warning of severe humanitarian consequences.