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. 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. Read More: A Debt Ceiling Fight Looms in 2027.
Could a Democratic Congress Make it the Last One? 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. 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.” In a statement accompanying the request, the Trump Administration also called the funds “wasteful” and “harmful.” 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.
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. Similarly, the “pocket rescission” aims to withdraw allocated funding without direct congressional intervention. The timing is important when it comes to pocket 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). 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).
The Impoundment Control Act was created in response to President Richard Nixon’s heavy use of impoundments to achieve his policy 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. During this time, Congress is meant to review a President’s rescission requests and either approve them or see the funds released as planned.
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. It is not the first time Trump has used this strategy to thwart spending 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.
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