Funding Cut Backlash

Trump Cancels $810 Million in Federal Funding, Drawing Bipartisan Congressional Backlash

President Donald Trump moved to cancel $810 million in bipartisan, congressionally approved funding through a rarely used “pocket rescission,” targeting programs across multiple agencies, including immigrant and refugee services, education, minority-business development, housing counseling and overseas climate initiatives. The administration says the cuts eliminate wasteful spending that does not benefit American citizens. Critics say acting days before the Sept. 30 fiscal-year deadline prevents Congress from exercising its statutory review period and violates its constitutional control over spending; Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins called the move unlawful and said she would work with colleagues to challenge it, while lawmakers from both parties have criticized the action. The dispute echoes a previous attempt to use pocket rescissions to withhold foreign aid, which the Supreme Court allowed to proceed while litigation continued.

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