The White House said Friday that Trump is canceling nearly $1bn in Congress-approved domestic spending, mostly for immigrant services, as well as diversity initiatives. The administration says the immigrant funding is no longer needed because illegal border crossings have fallen.
Affected immigrant-service nonprofits include groups serving refugees and unaccompanied minors accused of being in the country illegally. Trump announced the rescissions with five days left in the federal fiscal year, leaving Congress almost no time to review them before they take effect. The Government Accountability Office has called the “pocket rescission” maneuver illegal.
Republican Sen. Susan Collins, chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said the move came without warning or consultation and that she would work with colleagues to address what she called “illegal actions”; Democratic Sen. Patty Murray also condemned it. Last year, Trump used the tactic for the first time in 50 years to block $4.9bn in congressionally approved foreign aid. The Supreme Court declined to block those rescissions, with his foreign-affairs authority weighing heavily in its decision.
