The White House has informed Congress of its intent to cancel $4.9 billion in foreign aid funding previously approved for the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). The Trump administration is attempting to use a legally untested method known as a “pocket rescission,” a tactic not used by a president in nearly 50 years.
A pocket rescission is a maneuver in which the president submits a request to Congress to cancel funds so late in the fiscal year that lawmakers do not have time to act on the request before the funding expires on September 30. This process effectively allows the administration to unilaterally cancel appropriated funds without congressional approval.
The move has drawn bipartisan condemnation. Republican Senator Susan Collins, who serves as the Chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, released a statement calling the effort “a clear violation of the law.” She added that the appropriate way to reduce spending is through the annual appropriations process. The Government Accountability Office (GAO), a nonpartisan congressional watchdog agency, has previously concluded that this type of rescission is illegal.
Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, have also spoken out against the action, calling it a “brazen attempt” to usurp Congress’s constitutional power of the purse. The dispute threatens to complicate ongoing negotiations to fund the government and could potentially lead to a shutdown.
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