President Donald Trump’s administration announced Friday that he utilized a “pocket rescission” to cut nearly $1 billion in Health and Human Services.
According to the announcement, $567 million was being cut from taxpayer-funded Health and Human Services (HHS) funds for noncitizens, and $15 million from the Department of Homeland Security programs to provide welfare to “illegal aliens,” $25 million in educational programs for noncitizens, along with other rescissions to numerous other programs and agencies Several Republican senators reacted to the announcement and ripped into the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), saying Congress received an $810 million package of pocket rescissions, calling it another attempt by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to undermine Congress’ Constitutional power of the purse, adding the move shows the OMB intentionally withheld these funds for months to execute unlawful cancellation of bipartisan appropriations.
Sen. Susan Collins, Senate Appropriations Committee Chair, stated the OMB does not get to decide what programs are worth funding and said the actions were “illegal.
“The independent Government Accountability Office (GAO) has concluded that pocket rescissions are unlawful and not permitted by the Impoundment Control Act,” said Collins. “Any effort to rescind appropriated funds without congressional approval is a clear violation of the law.”
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, a senior member of the Appropriations Committee, came out strongly against the maneuver. She labeled the action “unlawful” and warned that unilateral cuts risk throwing the government funding process into chaos.
Sen. Patty Murray said the move was a “theft from the American people, plain and simple.” According to the GAO, a pocket rescission is when a president asks Congress to cancel funding close to the end of the fiscal year before they can potentially be used for any new obligations. The fiscal year ends on Sept. 30 and appears to thwart Congress’ power by not allowing the 45 allotted days to respond.
The GAO says pocket rescissions are not legal, adding that “Congress holds the power of the purse—approving a budget and appropriating funds. Presidents and executive branch agencies are responsible for administering those funds.”
“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. Every Republican who voted for these bills should be furious, because [OMB Director Russell] Vought is saying their votes don’t count,” said Murray. .
The administration says it is cutting $15 million by pulling the Department of Justice’s Community Relations Service and $9 million from debt relief to foreign countries that fund climate change policies, the announcement says.
Another $28 million is being cut from HHS research programs and $5 million from the HHS Office of Minority Health, per the announcement. In addition, $70 million is being axed from funds earmarked international education and another $10 million for Bidenera programs the Trump administration claims “Aid and Abet the Entry of Aliens.”