Lawmakers Criticize White House for Attempt to Cancel Foreign Aid Funds
Members from both political parties have raised concerns about the White House’s recent move to cancel foreign aid funds unlawfully, cautioning that the looming deadline for government funding could lead to serious implications.
On Thursday, the White House announced its plans to cancel $4.9 billion in foreign aid through a method known as “pocket withdrawal.” The Office of Management and Budget stated, “Last night, President Trump utilized pocket withdrawal to cancel $4.9 billion in the US. We will always put America first!”
According to documentation obtained by Fox News Digital, this pocket rescission involves cutting funds from various foreign aid programs that the administration claimed were not formally approved under the Trump agenda. This includes around $520 million from international organizations, over $390 million from international peacekeeping, $322 million from the Democracy Fund, $445 million from peacekeeping operations, and more than $3 billion from development support.
The process allows the president to ask Congress to rescind funds already allocated within a 45-day timeframe. Earlier this year, lawmakers successfully cut $9 billion from public broadcasting and foreign aid using similar tactics. However, the pocket withdrawal method is seen as a way to bypass that 45-day requirement as lawmakers near the end of the fiscal year, leaving them little time to respond.
Senator Susan Collins expressed her disapproval, stating that the action was a clear attempt to withdraw funds without Congress’s consent. She pointed out that the Government Accountability Office had deemed this type of withdrawal illegal under the relevant statutes. “Attempts to withdraw funds allocated without Congressional approval represent a blatant violation of the law,” she remarked, suggesting that it would be more appropriate to find bipartisan solutions to unnecessary spending.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Office of Management and Budget and the White House for their perspective, but there was no immediate response.
As lawmakers gear up to address how this pocket withdrawal might complicate negotiations for keeping the government funded, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer expressed that any further efforts to retract Congress-approved funding would be unacceptable to Democrats. Prior to the announcement, he and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries sent letters to various Senators querying whether additional rescissions would occur.
Schumer criticized the “illegal pocket withdrawal” as evidence that President Trump and Congressional Republicans are unwilling to engage in bipartisan efforts. “It’s unclear whether they have any plans to prevent painful shutdowns as the funding deadline approaches on September 30th,” Schumer stated. He further suggested that Republicans seem inclined to worsen the situation for Americans, potentially increasing healthcare costs and undermining national security.
