The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) utilized a “pocket rescission” maneuver to cancel $810 million in funding previously approved by Congress. The canceled appropriations were designated for refugee assistance programs within the Department of Health and Human Services, as well as grants for the Minority Business Development Agency.
Additional funds targeted by the cancellation included a Treasury Department program that provides debt forgiveness to foreign nations for climate-related investments in coral reefs and tropical forests. This action marks another instance of the administration attempting to revoke spending authority without explicit congressional approval at the close of the fiscal year.
Why It Matters
The pocket rescission tactic challenges the constitutional balance of power between the executive and legislative branches regarding federal spending. By withholding funds after the fiscal year ends, the administration bypasses the standard legislative process for canceling appropriations. This move has drawn sharp criticism from lawmakers who argue it undermines bipartisan agreements and violates established budgetary laws.
What Happened
The OMB executed the cancellation just before the fiscal year concluded on September 30. Under the 1974 Impoundment Control Act, the administration is permitted to freeze funding for 45 days while lawmakers decide whether to approve a rescission request. If Congress does not act during that window, the executive branch is legally required to spend the money.
The Trump administration contends that submitting the rescission request within the final 45 days of the fiscal year allows it to revoke the funds even without congressional approval. This interpretation has been contested by legal experts and congressional watchdogs.
By The Numbers
- $810 million: Total amount canceled in the latest pocket rescission.
- $4.9 billion: Amount clawed back in the administration’s first pocket rescission in August 2025, targeting international peacekeeping and democracy programs.
- $9.4 billion: Amount requested for revocation in a regular rescissions request sent in June 2025, including funds for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
- $9 billion: Amount both chambers signed off on canceling after the Senate voted to preserve hundreds of millions for PEPFAR.
- 45 days: Duration the administration can legally freeze funding under the Impoundment Control Act before Congress must decide.
Zoom Out
This is not the first time the administration has employed this strategy. In August 2025, the White House sent its initial pocket rescission, which reclaimed $4.9 billion in funding for international peacekeeping, democracy initiatives, and development assistance. Earlier that year, in June 2025, the administration submitted a regular rescissions request to revoke $9.4 billion allocated for public broadcasting and foreign aid.
Both chambers of Congress ultimately approved canceling $9 billion from that June request, though lawmakers voted to preserve hundreds of millions of dollars designated for PEPFAR, a program supporting global health initiatives. The Government Accountability Office (GAO), a nonpartisan congressional watchdog, has maintained that pocket rescissions are illegal.
What’s Next
Lawmakers have expressed strong opposition to the latest cancellation. Senate Appropriations Chairwoman Susan Collins released a statement on Friday evening, stating she sharply disagreed with the tactics employed by the OMB.
“This move shows that OMB intentionally withheld these funds for months to execute this unlawful cancellation of appropriations that were approved on a bipartisan basis and signed into law,” Collins said.
Washington state Democratic Sen. Patty Murray also condemned the action, describing the pocket rescission as theft from the American people. “These are funds Congress has delivered on a bipartisan basis and should be helping people—not cut off by a president more focused on building a ballroom than investing in families,” Murray said.
The GAO spokesperson Sarah Kaczmarek reiterated that the agency stands behind its legal position that pocket rescissions violate statutory requirements. With a dozen full-year government funding bills expected later this year, the conflict over spending authority is likely to continue as lawmakers and the executive branch navigate budgetary priorities.
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