Trump uses contested power to cut nearly $1B US in Congress

Trump uses contested power to cut nearly $1B US in Congress-approved spending

U.S. president's 'pocket rescission' move slammed as illegal; most cuts focused on services for immigrants

U.S. President Donald Trump is cancelling nearly $1 billion US in spending approved by Congress, the White House announced on Friday, using a rare and contested power to axe funding for immigrant services and diversity-focused initiatives.

Trump's Office of Management and Budget (OMB) described the funding cut as focused on "the most harmful government spending."

Most of the cuts are focused on services for immigrants, including non-profits that serve refugees and unaccompanied minors accused of being in the country illegally. The administration says the funds are no longer necessary because illegal border crossings have diminished considerably.

Also targeted for cuts were a Department of Education program for migrant students; a Department of Justice office focused on reducing racial tensions; a business development initiative for minority entrepreneurs; housing counselling services from the Housing and Urban Development Department; and a series of grants from the Health and Human Services Department that the administration called "outright harmful and blatantly ideological."

A White House news release announcing the funding cuts notes some of the organizations are led by people who worked in the administration of former president Barack Obama, a Democrat.

Trump's move was condemned by Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican in a tough re-election campaign and chair of the Senate Committee on Appropriations.

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Collins said in a statement that the action came without warning or consultation. She also said she would work to address with colleagues "these illegal actions."

"… It is a usurpation of Congress's appropriations powers," Collins said. "OMB is an agency of the executive branch. It does not get to decide which programs are worth funding."

Under federal law, Congress has 45 days to review the president's proposed spending cuts before they take effect. But Trump made that all but impossible by announcing them with just five days left in the federal fiscal year and the House out of session through the November midterm elections.

The Government Accountability Office — the independent, non-partisan watchdog agency that works for Congress — says the manoeuvre, known as a "pocket rescission," is illegal.

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Collins called it the latest attempt by OMB to "undermine Congress's constitutional power of the purse."

A year ago, Trump issued a pocket rescission for the first time in nearly 50 years by blocking $4.9 billion US in congressionally approved foreign aid. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to block those rescissions, saying Trump's authority over foreign affairs weighed heavily in its decision. This year, Trump is targeting domestic spending.

The use of a pocket rescission fits a broader pattern by the Trump administration to exact greater control over the U.S. government, eroding the power of Congress.

Essentially the last pocket rescission occurred in 1977 when then-president Jimmy Carter rescinded it. The Trump administration argues it’s a legally permissible tool, despite some murkiness, since Carter had initially proposed the clawback well ahead of the 45-day deadline.

The administration has also fired federal workers, imposed a historic increase in tariffs, and started the war in Iran without going through Congress, putting the burden on the judicial branch to determine the limits of presidential power.

'Theft from the American people': senator

Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, the lead Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, described the White House action as "theft from the American people, plain and simple."

"These are funds Congress has delivered on a bipartisan basis and should be helping people — not cut off by a president more focused on building a ballroom than investing in families," Murray said.

Murray said in recent spending negotiations, Democrats fought to include language to prevent the administration from usurping Congress's power on spending decisions, but Republicans have declined to go along.

"While Trump spends tax dollars on ads promoting himself, Congress needs to reassert its powers to help people, and it's past time Republicans join us in that fight," she said.

In addition to immigrant services, the White House said it was rescinding $70 million US for what it called "woke" international education programs, $28 million US in grant funding for Health and Human Services research programs, and $9 million US in debt relief for foreign countries that fund climate change policies. Another $10 million US was being withheld from a minority business development program.