The Republicans breaking with Trump to save their campaigns
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How is Trump using a pocket rescission to cancel Congress-approved spending?
Good morning. President Trump makes a last-minute move to cancel federal spending, an act that some in his own party say is illegal.
It is nearly unprecedented that an administration takes this expansive of a view under executive power.
There's a growing list of Republican candidates distancing themselves from the White House, and why Justice Samuel Alito is recusing himself from a major upcoming case at the Supreme Court. It's Tuesday, September twenty-ninth. I'm Gideon Resnick. This is Apple News Today.
A number of senators have been criticizing President Trump's decision to abruptly block nearly a billion dollars in money already approved by Congress, a move that could erode lawmakers' power to control where taxpayer dollars go. Trump told lawmakers he was rescinding the money with a controversial budget maneuver that leaves Congress with little time to object. Eric McDaniel is a congressional reporter with NPR. He told us how the money was supposed to be getting spent.
This is about $810 million in total. The bulk of that has gone toward programs that are meant to serve immigrants to the United States. And the president has said essentially that he is not going to send about $500 million to those programs. There are also other things, programs that serve racial and sexual minorities, programs that address climate change. The overall through line. is that these are programs that run counter to the administration's stated agenda.
Now, the Constitution awards the power of the purse to Congress. If a president disagrees with how something has been appropriated, a request can get sent to cancel it. Typically, that's supposed to happen with 45 days' notice, but if it's not, it's called a pocket rescission. When an administration makes the request this late in the fiscal year, the funds can effectively be withheld until they expire. And this fiscal year ends tomorrow, putting Congress Yeah. The move is being driven by Russ Vought, the powerful head of the Office of Management and Budget or OMB.
Russ Vought has told CNN and other outlets in the past that he feels that pocket rescinds are legal.
That's one of our executive tools that's been used before. It is a fully legal approach that is
It's controversial to say the least. It disagrees with an assessment by the Nonpartisan Government Accountability Office. Democrats obviously disagree with that. The Congress is clear. Congress sets tax rates and they decide how money is spent. That's not a decision by the White House.
Susan Collins, the Republican chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, condemned the maneuver. And departing Republican Senator John Cornyn told reporters he believes it's illegal. It's actually the second time the Trump administration has pulled this lever after using it to cancel foreign aid spending in twenty twenty five. Democratic Senator Patty Murray made clear to Russ Vought how she felt about this last year when he appeared before the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Your notion of this pocket rescission defies common sense and by the way, the plain text of the law.
Last year's attempts drew a legal challenge from businesses that stood to receive some of that foreign aid money. The Supreme Court ultimately allowed the cancellation, pointing to the administration's power to oversee foreign relations, but it didn't rule on the legality of pocket rescissions more broadly.
For the White House to decide now two years in a row to do pocket rescissions, to ignore Congress's authority and prerogative, a bipartisan group of congressional lawmakers, I should say, who passed these spending bills, for the White House to ignore that is essentially unprecedented in the course of American history.
The Senate is likely only in session for a few more days before the rest of the busy campaign season continues.
Why are Republican Senate candidates distancing themselves from Trump over the Iran war?
Yesterday, the president repeated his call for supporters to quote, pretend I'm on the ballot in the upcoming midterms. But in the most competitive races, there are growing signs that Republicans are looking to put some distance between their campaigns and the White House.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
How is Trump using a pocket rescission to cancel Congress-approved spending?
0:05–4:08
2
Why are Republican Senate candidates distancing themselves from Trump over the Iran war?
4:08–6:14
3
How are fuel prices and the cost of living shaping Republicans’ stance on the Iran war?
6:14–7:27
4
Are taxpayer-funded Trump TV ads violating federal law?
7:27–9:46
5
Why are Republicans questioning the use of public money for Trump’s TV ads?
9:46–10:43
6
Why is Justice Samuel Alito recusing himself from a major climate case?
10:43–11:17
7
What could happen at the next hearing in the Lindsay Clancy case?
11:17–11:53
8
How did an 11-year-old chess player become the youngest woman grandmaster?
11:53–13:13
Speakers
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