President Donald Trump is using a rare tool called “pocket rescission” to claw back nearly $5 billion in foreign aid funding that Congress already approved. The move has Democrats angry and even some Republicans worried as lawmakers face a September 30 deadline to keep the government open.
According to The Hill, Trump sent a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson late Thursday asking to cancel $4.9 billion in funds for the State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development. The White House says the money goes to “woke, weaponized, and wasteful” programs that don’t match Trump’s America First goals.
Sen. Todd Young said Trump is breaking new ground with his bold move to control the central bank, though he admits he doesn’t know if the law allows it. The unusual step has left many lawmakers unsure about what comes next.
Democrats warn move threatens government funding talks
The timing makes this especially tricky. A pocket rescission happens when the president asks to cancel money so close to the end of the fiscal year that Congress can’t really do anything about it. The funds just expire on September 30 if lawmakers don’t act fast enough.
Democrats are furious about the move. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said it shows “Trump and Congressional Republicans are hellbent on rejecting bipartisanship and going it alone this fall.” He warned that neither Trump nor Republicans have any plan to avoid “a painful and entirely unnecessary shutdown.”
5/ But Trump doesn’t play by DC’s old rules.
— Rod D. Martin (@RodDMartin) September 1, 2025
Instead, he’s using a rare maneuver called a pocket rescission—the first in 50 YEARS—to cancel $5 BILLION in foreign aid and globalist projects.
That includes funding tied to NED.https://t.co/eqNJ4prvJP
Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, called the whole thing illegal. “He continues to want to steal money that has been appropriated,” she told CNN. The Connecticut lawmaker said Democrats will push for limits on Trump’s power in upcoming funding talks. This latest controversy adds to growing concerns about Trump’s actions affecting various government institutions.
Even some Republicans are pushing back. Sen. Susan Collins, who leads the Senate Appropriations Committee, said any effort to cancel approved funds without Congress’s okay is “a clear violation of the law.” She pointed to a Government Accountability Office ruling that pocket rescissions are illegal under the 1974 Impoundment Control Act.
The White House argues it’s on solid legal ground. An official said the administration looked at past Government Accountability Office findings and believes the move will survive any court challenges. But the last time anyone tried this was in 1977 when President Jimmy Carter used a pocket rescission.
The cuts include $3.2 billion from USAID development programs, $393 million from State Department peacekeeping work, and $322 million from the Democracy Fund. Trump’s team says these programs include things like climate projects in Honduras and micro-insurance in Colombia that don’t help America.
This isn’t Trump’s first try at cutting foreign aid. Congress already approved a $9 billion rescission package in July that targeted global aid and public broadcasting. But that went through the normal process where lawmakers could vote on it.
