President Donald Trump is reportedly seeking to cut about $5 billion in foreign aid through a pocket recission, a presidential power unused since 1977.
Trump sent a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson on Thursday requesting the $4.9 billion cut in funds allocated to the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development, which the administration dismantled, The New York Post reported.
He is looking to slash about $3 billion in funding for USAID, $322 million from the USAID-State Department Democracy Fund, $521 million in State Department funds for international organizations, $393 million in State Department contributions to peacekeeping activities, and $445 million in separately budgeted peacekeeping aid.
Per the Impoundment Control Act of 1974, Trump can temporarily withhold funding for 45 days while Congress considers the request. If the request isn’t approved, then the funds must be released. It is called a pocket rescission when it’s presented to Congress so late in the fiscal year ā which ends Sept. 30 ā that it takes effect regardless of whether Congress approves.
The legality of pocket rescission has been debated between the legislativeĀ Government Accountability Office, whichĀ deems the practice illegal, and the executive branch, as Trump’s Office of Management and Budget says it’s legal.
OMB Director Russ Vought and General Counsel Mark Paoletta have referenced instances where Presidents Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter arguably made pocket rescissions in the 1970s.
