Donald Trump moves to scrap $4.9bn in already allocated US foreign aid
US president makes new effort to assert power over Congress with bid to cut ‘woke’ funding
Donald Trump has ordered the cancellation of $4.9bn in foreign aid spending already approved by Congress, making use of an obscure legal mechanism in an effort to bypass lawmakers and assert his authority.
The president wrote to House Speaker Mike Johnson on Thursday night informing him of the rescission of funds earmarked for development assistance, peacekeeping and international organisations.
“The Trump administration is committed to getting America’s fiscal house in order by cutting government spending that is woke, weaponised and wasteful,” the White House said in a statement on Friday.
The move to claw back funds already approved by Congress is the latest step by the administration to test the limits on presidential authority. It comes as Trump looks to extend his influence over the Federal Reserve, taking the unprecedented step this week of attempting to sack a governor.
It marks the first time in 50 years that a president has sought to use executive powers under the Impoundment Control Act to deploy a so-called pocket rescission to circumvent lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
Congress can take up to 45 days to consider a rescission request from the president. But by issuing the directive with less than that amount of time until the end of the fiscal year on September 30, the White House is betting it can lock up the funds before they can be spent.
Trump’s directive drew swift criticism from Democrats and his fellow Republicans in Congress, who argued it was an illegal attempt to circumvent lawmakers’ constitutional control over spending.
“Any effort to rescind appropriated funds without congressional approval is a clear violation of the law,” said Susan Collins, Republican chair of the Senate Committee on Appropriations on Friday.
Patty Murray, the top Democrat on the committee, blasted what she said was an attempt by the White House “to do an end run around Congress”.
“No lawmaker should accept this absurd, illegal ploy to steal their constitutional power to determine how taxpayer dollars get spent,” she said.
Trump’s directive would lock up $3.2bn in development assistance funding that the administration described as “endless handouts that allow recipient governments to eschew responsibilities to their own citizens”.
It would also slash $393mn in funding for US peacekeeping missions and $521mn in previously allocated contributions to international organisations, including the World Trade Organization, the International Labour Organization, the OECD and Unesco.
Secretary of state Marco Rubio said on Friday that the spending “violates the president’s America First priorities”.
“None of these programmes are in America’s interest, which is why the president is taking decisive action to put America and Americans first,” he wrote on X.
The non-partisan Government Accountability Office has previously said that pocket rescissions were against the law. Russell Vought, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, considered deploying the measure during Trump’s first term, before deciding not to proceed.
The move is likely to inflame tensions between Republicans and Democrats in Congress, increasing the risk of a government shutdown if a funding package for the next fiscal year cannot be agreed by October 1.
“With this illegal power grab, Donald Trump and Russell Vought are driving us towards a government shutdown,” said Brendan Boyle, the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee.