Overview

• Russell Vought is advancing a plan to cancel $4.9 billion in foreign aid through a pocket rescission unless Congress votes to stop it by September 30, according to reports of his current strategy.
• GAO legal counsel publicly rejected the administration’s interpretation of executive spending authority, as Vought seeks a Supreme Court test that could undercut the Impoundment Control Act.
• The White House budget office urged lawmakers to pass a short-term funding measure and told agencies to prepare for staffing cuts if no deal is reached, The New Republic reported.
• Vought’s approach followed internal clashes with Elon Musk’s DOGE, including disputes over a mass email demanding weekly accomplishments and a move to scrap the Education Department’s data office; his spokeswoman denied a widely quoted remark about letting DOGE “break things.”
• Reporting attributes to Vought efforts that pressured cancellation of foreign aid and public broadcasting, extensive deregulatory actions, and moves at the CFPB to halt most operations and attempt large-scale firings.