President Donald Trump announced Friday that he is seeking to cancel almost $1 billion in federal funding, sidestepping congressional approval and earning criticism from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.
asserted
he → announce → aisle
Using a controversial move known as a “pocket rescission,” Trump said he wanted to nullify $810 million in spending that Congress had approved for programs and agencies, much of which would serve immigrants, minorities, and children.
asserted
much → use → immigrants
Over half of the cuts would land on the Health and Human Services (HHS) Department’s Office of Refugee Resettlement, according to a request sent to House Speaker Mike Johnson on Friday.
uncertain
half → land → Friday
It said that rescinding the funds is “consistent with the Administration's goal of ending the use of Federal taxpayer dollars to support non-citizens, putting Americans first.”
asserted
rescinding → say → Americans
In a statement accompanying the request, the Trump Administration also called the funds “wasteful” and “harmful.”
asserted
Administration → accompany → funds
The Government Accountability Office (GAO), a nonpartisan government watchdog, has asserted, however, that the move is an illegal sidestepping of the constitutionally protected separation of powers—chiefly, Congress's power of the purse.
asserted
move → assert → purse
A “pocket rescission” is not a formal or legal term; it was coined to reference a “pocket veto,” a process in which a bill fails to become law because the President does not sign it within 10 days and Congress’s adjournment prevents its return.
asserted
adjournment → coin → return
Similarly, the “pocket rescission” aims to withdraw allocated funding without direct congressional intervention.
asserted
rescission → aim → intervention
The timing is important when it comes to pocket rescissions.
asserted
it → come → rescissions
In order to be fully effective, this “occurs when a president asks Congress to rescind (or cancel) funds very close to the end of the fiscal year—so close that the funds expire before they can be used for new obligations,” according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO).
uncertain
they → occur → Office
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB), helmed by Director Russell Vought, submitted the requests Friday and holds that the move is valid under the 1974 Impoundment Control Act (ICA).
asserted
move → helm → Act
The Impoundment Control Act was created in response to President Richard Nixon’s heavy use of impoundments to achieve his policy goals.
asserted
Act → create → goals
It has since been used to limit or regulate a president’s ability to control spending that has already been appropriated by building in 45 days of continuous congressional session.
asserted
that → use → session
During this time, Congress is meant to review a President’s rescission requests and either approve them or see the funds released as planned.
asserted
funds → mean → them
Trump’s request to cancel $810 million in funding, however, came just five days before the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30, all but ensuring that Congress will not have time to review the proposal in full or prevent the cuts from going into effect.
asserted
Congress → cancel → effect
It is not the first time Trump has used this strategy to thwart spending attempts.
asserted
Trump → use → attempts
He submitted a request on Aug. 28, 2025, to cancel $4.9 billion in foreign aid funds approved by Congress, including $3.2 billion that had been allocated to USAID.
asserted
that → submit → USAID
Although the move was contested, the Supreme Court last year stayed a lower court injunction requiring roughly $4 billion covered by the rescission request to be obligated.
asserted
Court → contest → request
The GAO claims that the move is illegal, writing on its website that this application of the ICA would “cede Congress’s power of the purse by allowing a president to, in effect, change the law by shortening the period of availability for fixed-period funds.”
“If Congress wanted a president to have that authority, it would need to change the law,” it continues.
uncertain
it → claim → law
Zachary Price, a professor at the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco, says that the move is an “abuse” of the ICA.
asserted
move → say → ICA
“It’s perverse to read that as, instead, creating this mechanism for unilaterally canceling funds,” Price tells TIME, adding that this interpretation is not supported by a lot of “historical practice.”
asserted
interpretation → ’ → practice
The maneuver seeks to withhold the funds until they expire at the end of the fiscal year, leaving Congress little time to respond.
asserted
they → seek → time
In this case, Price says, it further showcases how the ICA is being manipulated.
asserted
ICA → say → case
The government “shouldn't have a lot of money left over at the end of the fiscal year if you've been spending it as you go in the way the statute contemplates,” he says.
asserted
he → have → way
He also points out that the American government is distinctly separated into three branches, with Congress, sitting in the legislative branch, being given the power to pass legislation—or, in this case, cancel funds that have already been appropriated.
asserted
that → point → funds
It has been explicitly separated from the authority of the executive branch and the President.
asserted
It → separate → branch
Bobby Kogan, the senior director of federal budget policy at the Center for American Progress, says it even plainer than Price: “The administration has picked a bunch of things that they hate, and they say, ‘Well, we're just not going to do those.’”
asserted
we → say → those
The Supreme Court’s intervention last year did not constitute a ruling on the authority of pocket rescissions, meaning that the Trump Administration's latest use of the tactic could face new legal challenges.
uncertain
use → constitute → challenges
Which federal programs would lose funding and what’s at stake?
asserted
what → lose → stake
The largest portion of this year’s proposed cuts will target HHS programs providing nonprofit services for refugees and unaccompanied minors.
asserted
portion → propose → refugees
Trump’s request would withdraw $567 million from those services.
asserted
request → withdraw → services
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was also impacted, with a request to cancel funding for nonprofits that provide mental health services and social services to migrants.
asserted
that → impact → migrants
Another cut targets almost $25 million that had been slated for the Department of Education’s Special Programs for Migrant Students.
asserted
that → target → Students
The Housing and Urban Development Department’s housing counseling services are also named amid the rescissions; the Trump Administration said that the program included non-governmental organizations with “divisive and DEI-centric agendas.”
asserted
program → name → agendas
The Trump Administration also aims to cancel $15 million from a Department of Justice office that focuses on reducing racial tensions, in addition to $10 million that had been allocated to the Minority Business Development Agency, which supports minority entrepreneurs.
asserted
which → aim → entrepreneurs
“I assume that they're picking money to cancel based on some political calculus about what they can get away with,” Price says.
asserted
Price → assume → what
When looking at the bigger picture, he argues this is just one maneuver in several to “establish stronger executive control over spending.
asserted
this → look → spending
”
The move also risks future negotiations in Congress, Price says.
asserted
Price → risk → Congress
He explains that this application of the ICA would make it harder for Democrats and Republicans to compromise over spending if they anticipate that the sitting President will simply swoop in and cancel funding after thoughtful agreements have been reached.
asserted
agreements → explain → funding
“If the executive branch can come in and effectively impose a more kind of party line view of the spending, then you know why would people agree to the package in the first place?” he asks.
asserted
he → come → place
…and 11 more, not listed.
The Aporia
