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2w ago

Trump’s $4.9 Billion ‘Pocket Rescission’ Sets Off Bipartisan Revolt as Shutdown Risk Grows

The end-of-year maneuver threatens bipartisan funding talks, with litigation now expected.

Activists protest Russell Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget, as he testifies before the Senate Committee on Appropriations, on Capitol Hill in June.
House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise applaud as President Donald Trump holds a gavel after signing the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act," at the White House on July 4.
Rep. Rosa DeLauro speaks with reporters at the US Capitol in July.

Overview

  • OMB moved to cancel roughly $4.9 billion in previously appropriated foreign aid, targeting about $3.2 billion at USAID and $1.7 billion at State Department accounts using a rarely used “pocket rescission.”
  • Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins and Sen. Lisa Murkowski denounced the action as unlawful, while Republicans such as Mike Rounds and Shelley Moore Capito warned it could derail negotiations, and John Kennedy backed the cuts as needed savings.
  • Democratic leaders accuse the White House of attacking Congress’s Article I spending power and signal they may withhold votes for a short-term funding bill unless the move is rejected.
  • Senate Majority Leader John Thune and other Republicans predict court review, as GAO’s past opinions conflict with 1970s-era guidance, and committee counsels are examining the Carter precedent.
  • With the Sept. 30 deadline approaching, leaders are discussing a stopgap that could incorporate bipartisan Senate-passed bills, but the rescission fight is hardening positions and heightening shutdown risk.