White House / President·Spending
Update: Pocket-rescission clock runs toward Wednesday fiscal-year end
Editor’s note (Sep 26, 2026): We fell short of our standards. An earlier version of our analysis began “Cutting NGO pipelines that treat the border as a client list is a legitimate taxpayer priority”; it now begins “Scrutinizing federal grants to outside groups that serve migrants is a legitimate taxpayer priority.” The facts are unchanged. We apologize for falling short of our standards.
The White House’s Friday evening “pocket rescission” of about $810 million in congressionally appropriated funds remained the live spending fight Saturday as the federal fiscal year ends Wednesday, according to ABC News and the administration’s own briefing. The package includes $567 million in HHS funding the White House said went to programs and NGOs serving refugees, asylees and other non-citizens, plus cuts across Education, HUD, DOJ and DHS accounts; Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins, R-Maine, called any rescission without congressional approval “a clear violation of the law” and said the Government Accountability Office has concluded pocket rescissions are unlawful under the Impoundment Control Act. ABC noted the Supreme Court last year allowed a prior foreign-aid pocket rescission to proceed while stating that stay was not a final determination on the merits.
- The White HousePresident Trump Takes Historic Action to Eliminate Wasteful and Harmful Spending
- ABC NewsWhite House orders over $800M in funds rescinded; Collins calls it 'clear violation' of law