Trump Seeks to Withhold More Than $800 Million in Congress-Approved Funds

The White House announced the move on Friday, saying the Trump administration would use “all possible tools” to cut what it described as wasteful and harmful government spending that does not benefit American citizens. 

 

The targeted programs include refugee assistance, services for immigrants and noncitizens, minority-business development, education and housing initiatives, as well as some overseas environmental programs. The administration argues that some of the programs encourage illegal immigration, contribute to racial tensions or promote what it considers alarmist environmental policies. 

 

The White House is using a rarely employed mechanism known as a “pocket rescission” to seek the cancellation of the funds. The move has reignited a long-running legal and constitutional debate over whether a president can unilaterally withhold spending that Congress has authorized.

 

Under the US Constitution, Congress holds the “power of the purse”—the authority to appropriate federal funds. Under the Impoundment Control Act, presidents can propose rescissions, but Congress normally has 45 legislative days to consider them. Trump’s administration submitted the latest package just days before the end of the federal fiscal year, leaving lawmakers little time to act. 

 

The package totals about $810 million, according to Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins. The largest portion—$567 million—comes from Health and Human Services funding for services for refugees, asylum seekers and other noncitizens. Other cuts affect education, housing, Justice Department programs and minority-business initiatives. 

 

Collins, a Republican who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, called the administration’s action “illegal,” arguing that it undermines Congress’s constitutional authority over federal spending.

 

“This is the most recent attempt by this Office of Management and Budget to undermine Congress’s Constitutional power of the purse,” Collins said, adding that any effort to rescind appropriated funds without congressional approval would violate the law. 

 

The dispute is not the first between the Trump administration, Congress and the courts over the use of pocket rescissions. Last year, Trump used the same mechanism to seek to withhold $4.9 billion in foreign aid approved by Congress. The Supreme Court declined to block the administration from proceeding while litigation continued, but the legal debate over the scope of presidential authority remained unresolved. 

 

The latest action has therefore renewed questions about the constitutional balance between Congress’s authority to approve federal spending and the president’s ability to prevent those funds from being disbursed.

 

The Trump administration says the move is intended to reduce wasteful and harmful spending, while critics in Congress argue that withholding appropriated funds without congressional approval could exceed the executive branch’s legal authority.