Overview

• The White House notified Congress late Thursday that it is invoking a pocket rescission under the Impoundment Control Act for the first time in nearly five decades.
• The package targets about $3.2 billion in USAID development assistance and hundreds of millions for State Department democracy and peacekeeping programs, according to the OMB letter.
• The Government Accountability Office has said pocket rescissions are unlawful under the 1974 statute, pointing to a likely legal fight over Congress’s power of the purse.
• A D.C. Circuit Court ruling earlier Thursday lifted an injunction that had been blocking the funds, clearing the way for the administration’s action.
• Lawmakers in both parties, including Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins and Democratic leaders, criticized the move and warned it could complicate efforts to avoid a Sept. 30 shutdown.