Trump says ‘He’s’ Cutting Congress’s Foreign Aid OK’D By about $5 Billion….

The guy says he can do ‘Whatever he wants cause he’s President’…..

Congress and the Alito Court HAVE gone along with the ‘Don’….

Most other Federal Judges and Courts have NOT….

I think the lawmakers, who can’t have town hall meeting because of Trump ?

Have begun to understand that they ain’t relevant anymore IF they let Trump do’his thing’ when he call’s members to support his actions

They will STILL have to face voters next November…..

 

President Donald Trump has told House Speaker Mike Johnson that he won’t be spending $4.9 billion in congressionally approved foreign aid, effectively cutting the budget without going through the legislative branch.

Trump, who sent a letter to Johnson, R-La., on Thursday, is using what’s known as a pocket rescission — when a president submits a request to Congress to not spend approved funds toward the end of the fiscal year, so Congress cannot act on the request in a 45-day timeframe and the money goes unspent as a result. It’s the first time in nearly 50 years a president has used one. The fiscal year draws to a close at the end of September.

The letter was posted Friday morning on the X account of the White House Office of Management and Budget. It said the funding would be cut from the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, an early target of Trump’s efforts to cut foreign aid.

If the White House standardizes this move, the president could effectively bypass Congress on key spending choices and potentially throw into disarray efforts in the House and the Senate to keep the government funded when the next fiscal year starts in October.

The use of a pocket rescission fits part a broader pattern by the Trump administration to exact greater control over the U.S. government, eroding the power of Congress and agencies such as the Federal Reserve and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, among others. The administration has already fired federal workers and imposed a historic increase in tariffs without going through Congress, putting the burden on the judicial branch to determine the limits of presidential power…

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The move by the Trump administration drew immediate backlash in parts of the Senate over its legality.

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said in a statement that the Constitution “makes clear that Congress has the responsibility for the power of the purse” and any effort to claw back funds “without congressional approval is a clear violation of the law.”

“Instead of this attempt to undermine the law, the appropriate way is to identify ways to reduce excessive spending through the bipartisan, annual appropriations process,” Collins said. Congress approves rescissions regularly as part of this process.”

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York warned that Trump’s use of the pocket veto could undermine the normal funding process and risk “a painful and entirely unnecessary shutdown.” After all, any budget agreements reached in the Senate could lack authority if the Trump White House has the power to withhold spending as it sees fit…

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Eloise Pasachoff, a Georgetown University law professor and expert on federal spending issues, has written that the Impoundment Control Act allows rescissions only if Congress acts within 45 days, meaning the the White House alone cannot decide to not spend the funds.

“This mandatory language admits no exceptions, indicating that Congress expects the funds to be used as intended before the end of the fiscal year if it does not approve the proposed rescission,” Pasachoff wrote in an academic paper last year.