Trump cancels nearly $1bn in funding approved by Congress

The White House announced Friday it is canceling nearly $1 billion in congressionally approved spending, using a contested executive maneuver to eliminate funding for immigrant-services nonprofits and diversity-focused programs. The Office of Management and Budget framed the cuts as targeting "the most harmful government spending," with most reductions hitting organizations serving refugees and unaccompanied minors, on the reasoning that fewer illegal border crossings have reduced the need for such aid. A White House release pointed out that some affected organizations are led by former officials from Barack Obama's administration, according to The Guardian.

The action drew sharp criticism from lawmakers in both parties. Senator Susan Collins, who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee and faces a difficult re-election, said the cuts came without warning and called the delay an unreported impoundment that usurps Congress's constitutional spending authority, adding that OMB "does not get to decide which programs are worth funding." Senator Patty Murray called it "theft from the American people, plain and simple," arguing that Republicans who supported the underlying bipartisan spending bills should be angered that Russell Vought is effectively nullifying their votes.

By announcing the cuts just five days before the fiscal year's end, Trump avoided the standard congressional review process for proposed rescissions, a tactic known as a "pocket rescission" that the Government Accountability Office has deemed illegal. Trump used the same maneuver a year earlier to block $4.9 billion in foreign aid, a move the Supreme Court declined to halt; this time the target is domestic spending.

Summarized by PolitiKool from The Guardian’s reporting. Read the full story at The Guardian →