The Trump administration announced Friday it's canceling $810 million in congressionally approved spending that supports refugees, migrant students, and minority-owned businesses — using a controversial budget maneuver that lawmakers and government watchdogs say violates the Constitution's separation of powers.
President Donald Trump deployed a "pocket rescission" to claw back the funds, timing the cuts to arrive just days before the Sept. 30 fiscal year deadline. That timing isn't accidental. If the money remains unspent until Sept. 30, it expires before Congress' mandatory 45-day review period can be completed. The House won't even be in session through the November election, making congressional action nearly impossible.
Who Loses Funding
The largest share of the cuts — $567 million — targets Health and Human Services programs that fund non-government organizations supporting refugees, asylees, and other non-citizens. Another $25 million was stripped from education programs for migrant students, which the White House claims supported "an LGBT youth summit" and "Therapy for Latinx workshops."
Programs labeled by the administration as "Woke International Education" face $70 million in cuts. The White House said this funding brings foreign students and faculty to the United States and has funded doctoral dissertations on "queer and trans community building in foreign countries."
Other targeted programs include a Justice Department office focused on reducing racial tensions, a business development initiative for minority entrepreneurs, Housing and Urban Development Department counseling services, and Health and Human Services grants the administration described as "outright harmful and blatantly ideological." The White House's announcement noted that several organizations receiving these funds are led by former officials in President Barack Obama's administration.
Constitutional Concerns Mount
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, who faces a tough re-election campaign, condemned the cuts as "the most recent attempt by this Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to undermine Congress's Constitutional power of the purse."
"The independent Government Accountability Office has concluded that pocket rescissions are unlawful and not permitted by the Impoundment Control Act," Collins said in a statement. "I will work with my colleagues to address these illegal actions."
The GAO has likened pocket rescissions to a line-item veto, which would allow a president to strike portions of legislation without congressional approval — a power the Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional. The OMB under Trump has argued that the Impoundment Control Act doesn't explicitly forbid the president from rescinding funds near the end of a fiscal year, according to a summary from the Congressional Research Service. OMB Director Russ Vought has repeatedly made this claim.
Not the First Time
A year ago, Trump issued the first pocket rescission in nearly 50 years, seeking to cancel $4.9 billion in congressionally approved foreign aid. The Supreme Court declined to block the move, citing the president's authority over foreign affairs as it allowed litigation to continue. The last pocket rescission took place under former President Jimmy Carter, who proposed it well before the 45-day congressional review deadline.
Why This Matters:
These cuts affect some of the country's most vulnerable populations — refugees fleeing persecution, migrant students seeking education, and minority entrepreneurs trying to build businesses. The timing and structure of the rescission raises fundamental questions about whether Congress retains its constitutional power to determine how taxpayer dollars are spent. When the executive branch can effectively nullify congressional spending decisions by running out the clock, the legislative branch's role as a check on executive power erodes. The targeted nature of these cuts — focusing on diversity programs, refugee support, and initiatives serving non-citizens — also signals which communities this administration views as expendable when budgets need trimming. For organizations already serving marginalized populations with limited resources, an $810 million reduction doesn't just mean fewer programs. It means families who won't receive housing counseling, students who'll lose educational support, and small business owners who won't get the capital they need to compete.