Legal Showdown

Diya Ravi

August 29, 2025

President Donald Trump has kicked off a major political fight after notifying Congress that he plans to cancel $4.9 billion in foreign aid that had already been approved. He’s doing this through a “pocket rescission,” a rarely used budget move that hasn’t been attempted in nearly 50 years. The decision has sparked outrage among Democrats and even drawn criticism from some top Republicans, setting up a potential legal showdown.

According to the White House, Trump believes the money goes against his “America First” priorities. In a statement, Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the move, saying the president is “using his authority under the Impoundment Control Act” to cancel “woke and weaponized” foreign aid programs.

But critics are calling the plan illegal. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) claims the president can freeze the funds, but Democrats argue this is a direct violation of Congress’s authority over federal spending. Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, blasted the move: “It is all illegal. He continues to want to steal money that has been appropriated.”

The timing of the decision makes things even more tense. Congress has until September 30 to pass new funding and avoid a government shutdown, and Democrats warn that Trump’s rescission push could make negotiations a lot harder. Lawmakers from both parties are already under pressure to agree on a temporary “continuing resolution” to keep the government running.

Even some Republicans are uneasy. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, the top Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee, openly questioned the legality of the pocket rescission. She pointed out that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has already said this kind of maneuver is against the law. “Any effort to rescind appropriated funds without congressional approval is a clear violation of the law,” Collins said.

Democrats are threatening to add new limits on Trump’s budget powers during the upcoming negotiations. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer also condemned the move, saying it shows Trump and congressional Republicans are “hellbent on rejecting bipartisanship.”

The administration, however, is standing firm. A White House official told reporters the president is on “firm legal ground” and believes the courts would back him up. Trump’s letter to Congress outlined where the cuts would hit, including:

• $3.2 billion from USAID development programs

• $393 million from the State Department peacekeeping

• $322 million from the State Department’s Democracy Fund

• $444 million from other international peacekeeping aid

If Congress doesn’t act within 45 days, the funding will effectively disappear since the proposal came so close to the end of the fiscal year. The last time a president tried a pocket rescission was Jimmy Carter in 1977, which shows just how rare this is.

With a potential shutdown looming, Trump’s move sets up a messy political and legal battle that could dominate Washington in the weeks ahead.