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Tell Congress: Stop Trump’s Illegal Pocket Funding Cuts
Trump is trying to wipe out nearly $1 billion that Congress already approved — and some of the biggest cuts hit refugees, asylum seekers, migrant students, housing programs, and health-equity work.
His administration announced the cuts on September 25, just five days before the fiscal year ends on September 30. The largest cut alone targets $567 million for services affecting refugees, asylees, unaccompanied children, and other immigrants. Other cuts reach migrant education, housing counseling, immigrant legal services, minority-health programs, and medical research.
And Trump is trying to make those cuts without getting Congress to approve them.
Under the normal rescission process, a president can ask Congress to cancel money it already approved. Congress then gets up to 45 days to act. If Congress does not approve the rescission, the Government Accountability Office says the money must be made available before it expires.
Trump gave Congress just five days.
That is the point of a “pocket rescission”: freeze the money until the deadline passes, leaving Congress without enough time to approve or reject the cuts. GAO says the law does not allow presidents to use the rescission process this way.
Congress must demand that the administration release the funds before September 30. If Trump refuses and lets the money expire, lawmakers must restore it in the next appropriations package.
And the stakes go beyond this funding.
If a president can block money Congress passed into law simply by waiting out the deadline, Congress’s constitutional control over federal spending becomes much easier to sidestep.
This time, the targets include refugees, children, housing assistance, education, and health programs. Next time, a president could use the same maneuver against entirely different priorities.
Thanks for all that you do,
Matt from the Swarm