President Donald Trump moved Friday to cancel $810 million in federal funding for refugee assistance, migrant education and other programs, drawing objections from lawmakers who say the administration is bypassing Congress’s spending authority.
The White House submitted the cuts days before the fiscal year ends Sept. 30, using a disputed maneuver known as a pocket rescission, explained The Daily Caller. The administration maintains it can withhold the money until the appropriations expire, leaving Congress little time to intervene.
The largest cut would eliminate $567 million from Health and Human Services accounts supporting nonprofits that work with refugees and asylees. Administration officials argued that the funding is no longer needed because illegal border crossings have fallen sharply under Trump’s enforcement policies. They characterized the spending as wasteful and contrary to taxpayers’ interests.
The package also includes $70 million for programs the White House described as “Woke International Education,” $56 million in Housing and Urban Development counseling grants and $25 million for migrant student education. According to the administration, education funding had supported an LGBT youth summit and “Therapy for Latinx” workshops.
Among the affected organizations is Southwest Key Programs, which the White House said received $40 million and faces a Justice Department lawsuit alleging that employees sexually harassed and abused unaccompanied minors. The administration also identified Global Refuge, an immigration nonprofit whose leader previously worked as a policy director for Michelle Obama.
Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins, R-Maine, said lawmakers received no advance warning and called the package an effort to “undermine Congress’s Constitutional power of the purse.” She cited Government Accountability Office findings that pocket rescissions violate the Impoundment Control Act.
Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, accused the administration of stealing money owed to communities. The House is scheduled to remain out of session through the November election, further limiting lawmakers’ ability to respond before the funding expires.
Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought has argued that the Impoundment Control Act does not bar a president from canceling funding late in the fiscal year. The administration’s position would allow the money to lapse before Congress could vote on the request.
Trump used the same approach in 2025 to withhold $4.9 billion in foreign aid, the first pocket rescission in nearly 50 years. The Supreme Court allowed that cancellation to stand without deciding whether the maneuver was legal.
