$810 million canceled without a vote

Summary

On September 25, 2026, five days before the fiscal year ended, President Trump sent Congress 11 proposed rescissions totaling $810 million under the Impoundment Control Act. Because the funds expire on September 30, before Congress's 45-day review window can run, the 'pocket rescission' lets the money lapse without a vote - a tactic the Government Accountability Office has said is illegal.

What happened

The largest item is $567,401,904 of the $6.3 billion appropriated in FY2024 for HHS's Refugee and Entrant Assistance account, which the transmittal said is 'overfunded due to the Administration's successful border policies.' Other items include $69.6 million for Education's international education and foreign language programs, $56.1 million in HUD housing counseling, $27.7 million from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, $24.9 million for migrant-student grants, $15 million each from FEMA's Alternatives to Detention case-management pilot and DOJ's Community Relations Service, and $10 million each from USCIS citizenship grants and the Minority Business Development Agency. The transmittal said the refugee rescission was 'consistent with the Administration's goal of ending the use of Federal taxpayer dollars to support non-citizens, putting Americans first.' It follows a $4.9 billion foreign-aid pocket rescission in August 2025 that the Supreme Court allowed to proceed in September 2025, saying its order should not be read as a final determination on the merits.

Impact on the United States

The move cancels funding Congress enacted on a bipartisan basis - including housing counseling, health-care quality research and services for refugees and asylees living in the US - without any vote, and entrenches a precedent that lets the executive let appropriations expire at year's end. Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine) said OMB 'intentionally withheld these funds for months' to carry out the cancellation, shifting control of spending from Congress to the White House.

Documented effects

1. Sep 25, 202611 rescissions totaling $810 million sent to Congress on Sept. 25, 2026, covering Commerce, Education, HHS, DHS, HUD, Justice and International Assistance Programs[1][2]
2. Sep 25, 2026Largest cut: $567.4 million from HHS Refugee and Entrant Assistance; also $56.1 million in HUD housing counseling and $27.7 million from AHRQ[1][3]
3. Sep 26, 2026Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins called the move 'unlawful' and 'a usurpation of Congress's appropriations powers'; GAO has said pocket rescissions are illegal[2][3][4]
4. Sep 26, 2026Second use of the tactic after the $4.9 billion August 2025 foreign-aid pocket rescission, which the Supreme Court let proceed without a final ruling on the merits[3][4]

Why this is rated significant

Repeats a budget maneuver GAO has called unlawful, letting the executive cancel $810 million in bipartisan appropriations without a congressional vote; the Republican chair of Senate Appropriations called it 'a usurpation of Congress's appropriations powers.'

funds withheld through the Sept. 30, 2026 end of the fiscal year; GAO considers pocket rescissions unlawful

Sources [4]