Washington (AP) — In a significant move, President Donald Trump has informed House Speaker Mike Johnson that he will not allocate $4.9 billion in foreign aid approved by Congress. This decision effectively cuts the budget without going through the typical legislative process. On Thursday, Trump sent a letter to Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, utilizing a strategy known as a pocket rescission. This method allows a president to request Congress to refrain from spending approved funds towards the end of the fiscal year, ensuring that Congress cannot act on the request within the designated 45-day period, leading to the funds remaining unspent.
This action marks the first instance of a president employing a pocket rescission in nearly 50 years. The fiscal year concludes at the end of September, and Trump's letter was subsequently shared on the official X account of the White House Office of Management and Budget on Friday morning. The correspondence indicated that the funding cuts would affect both the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), reflecting Trump's ongoing efforts to reduce foreign aid.
The last recorded use of a pocket rescission occurred in 1977 under then-President Jimmy Carter. The Trump administration maintains that this approach is a legally permissible option. However, if the White House were to standardize this practice, it could effectively bypass Congress in making critical spending decisions, thereby diminishing the legislative branch's control over budgetary matters.
The authority to propose the cancellation of funds approved by Congress is granted to the president by the 1974 Impoundment Control Act. While Congress has the option to vote on whether to retract the funds or maintain them, proposing a rescission so close to September 30 ensures that the money remains unspent, resulting in a lapse of funding.
Earlier this year, Trump sought congressional approval for rescissions and was successful in July when both the House and Senate agreed to $9 billion in budget cuts. These rescissions affected funding for public broadcasting and foreign aid programs. The Trump administration has prioritized significant reductions in foreign aid as a cornerstone of its policy, despite the relatively minor savings in comparison to the overall deficit and potential harm to the United States’ international reputation as foreign populations face reduced access to essential resources like food and development programs.
In February, the Trump administration announced plans to eliminate nearly all of USAID’s foreign aid contracts, along with a staggering $60 billion in total assistance abroad. Since then, USAID has been significantly downsized, with its remaining programs being transferred under the control of the State Department.
Furthermore, on Wednesday, the Trump administration appealed to the Supreme Court to intervene against lower court rulings that have upheld foreign aid, including critical funding for global health initiatives and HIV/AIDS programs that Trump has attempted to freeze. The New York Post was the first to report on the implementation of this pocket rescission.
