The Trump administration has asked Congress to cancel $810 million in approved funding, including $567 million for services for refugees and unaccompanied minors. Filed five days before the Sept. 30 fiscal-year end, the request leaves little time for a full review.
The 1974 Impoundment Control Act gives Congress 45 days of continuous session to consider rescission requests; without approval, funds are to be released as planned. “Pocket rescission” is an informal label for seeking cancellation so close to the fiscal-year end that funds expire before they can be used. The Government Accountability Office says the tactic unlawfully bypasses Congress’s spending power; the Office of Management and Budget says the request is valid under the law.
The request also targets funding for migrant mental-health and social services, nearly $25 million for migrant-student programs, HUD housing counseling, $15 million for a Justice Department office focused on racial tensions, and $10 million for minority-business support. The administration says the move fits its goal of ending federal support for noncitizens. Senate Appropriations leaders Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Patty Murray (D-Wash.) criticized the request. The Supreme Court’s 2025 action in a separate foreign-aid case did not rule on pocket rescissions’ legality; similar lawsuits may follow.
