President Donald Trump is withholding $810 million in federal funding approved by Congress, triggering a renewed dispute over who has constitutional control of government spending.
It is the second year in a row that Mr Trump has declined to release some funds that lawmakers directed to federal programmes and agencies. The move comes less than a week before the end of the fiscal year, leaving Congress without time to respond or reallocate the money.
More than two-thirds of the withheld funding – $567 million – is earmarked for programmes that provide services to refugees, asylum seekers and other non-citizens, according to a White House memo.
The administration has described the action as a “pocket rescission”. The Government Accountability Office (GAO), an independent and non-partisan watchdog, says the practice is illegal.
Dispute over Congress’s power of the purse
Congress is given authority under Article 1 of the US Constitution to raise taxes and decide how federal money is spent. If a president wants to cancel approved funding, they can ask Congress to approve the cancellation, with 45 days’ notice intended to allow lawmakers to accept or reject the proposal.
A pocket rescission occurs when funds are cancelled without giving Congress sufficient time to consider the decision. In this case, the approaching end of the fiscal year means the money will go unspent before lawmakers can act.
Senator Susan Collins, the Republican chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, accused the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) of undermining Congress’s constitutional authority.
“OMB is an agency of the executive branch. It does not get to decide which programs are worth funding,” she wrote in a statement posted on X.
Democrats have directed particular criticism at OMB director Russell Vought, alleging that he is violating the separation of powers and disregarding Congress’s authority over spending.
“This is theft from the American people, plain and simple,” Senator Patty Murray of Washington, the senior Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, wrote on X. “Every Republican who voted for these bills should be furious, because Vought is saying their votes don’t count.”
Representative Brendan Boyle, the senior Democrat on the House Budget Committee, said Mr Trump knew he could not secure the cuts through Congress and was making them “through the back door”. He described the move as “a blatant attack on Congress’s constitutional power of the purse”.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
Other funds being withheld include $15 million for a Justice Department team working to prevent and resolve racial and ethnic tensions, incidents and civil disorders, and to restore “racial stability and harmony”.
The administration is also withholding $70 million from programmes providing grants and fellowships to institutions that bring foreign students and faculty to the United States to study or teach languages.
Tens of millions of dollars more is being withheld from research and non-profit grant programmes focused on climate change and work involving racial and gender minorities.
