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A year ago, President Donald Trump’s administration blocked $4.9 billion in congressionally approved foreign aid through a pocket rescission, marking the first time in roughly 50 years that the president has attempted to use that authority.
The controversial budget maneuver occurs when a president submits a request to Congress to block funding so close to the end of the fiscal year that the funds can expire before Congress receives the full 45-day consideration period under the law.
In the announcement, the White House cited the Impoundment Control Act (ICA) as the basis for the Trump administration’s authority. But the Government Accountability Office has stated the ICA doesn’t permit withholding proposed rescissions through expiration if Congress has not approved them.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, who chairs the Senate committee on appropriations, blasted the move in a statement posted on X.
“This is the most recent attempt by this Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to undermine Congress’s Constitutional power of the purse,” she wrote.
“The independent Government Accountability Office has concluded that pocket rescissions are unlawful and not permitted by the Impoundment Control Act,” Collins added. “Any effort to rescind appropriated funds without congressional approval is a clear violation of the law.”
Neither the White House nor Collins’ office immediately responded to a request for comment from CNBC.
The rescissions would block $567 million appropriated for Health and Human Services programs for refugees, asylees and other non-citizens and $28 million for HHS research. Additional cuts target the Department of Education’s special programs for immigrant students, among other programs.
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