Trump cancels nearly $1bn in Congress-approved spending with rare 'pocket rescission'
The White House announced on Friday it is cancelling $810 million in spending approved by Congress — a rare 'pocket rescission' targeting immigrant services and diversity programmes that the Senate's top Republican appropriator condemned as illegal.
Donald Trump is cancelling $810 million in spending approved by Congress, the White House announced on Friday, using a rare and legally contested power to axe funding for immigrant services and diversity-focused programmes.
The president wrote to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to report “11 rescissions of budget authority, totaling $810 million,” affecting programmes across seven departments and agencies including Health and Human Services, Education, Justice and Housing and Urban Development.
The mechanism, known as a “pocket rescission”, is a proposed cancellation of spending so late in the federal fiscal year — with five days left until 30 September — that it takes effect regardless of legislative pushback. Under federal law, Congress normally has 45 days to review proposed cuts. The Government Accountability Office says the manoeuvre is illegal; it is only the second use of the power in 49 years.
Most of the cuts target HHS programmes serving refugees and unaccompanied minors. The largest single pot is $567 million for social services grants, which the administration said is no longer needed because illegal border crossings have diminished considerably. Also targeted were a migrant-student education programme, a Justice Department office focused on reducing racial tensions, minority business development initiatives, and HUD housing counselling — some of which the White House called “outright harmful and blatantly ideological”.
The move was condemned by Senator Susan Collins, the Republican chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, who said the action came “without warning or consultation” and called it “a usurpation of Congress’s appropriations powers”. Lead Democrat Patty Murray called it “theft from the American people, plain and simple”.
Sources
- The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/sep/25/trump-cancels-congress-funding
- Associated Press (via LA Post): https://www.lapost.com/content/trump-administration-uses-rare-authority-to-claw-back-nearly-1b-in-spending-approved-by-congress
- New York Post: https://nypost.com/2026/09/25/us-news/trump-cancels-nearly-1b-in-funding-for-illegal-immigrants-and-race-focused-programs-in-new-pocket-rescission/
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