The White House said on Friday it planned to cut $810 million in bipartisan, congressionally approved funding, a move that sparked criticism from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.
The executive branch will use so-called “pocket rollbacks” to effectively return funds to Congress, a rare budget tactic the Trump administration has previously used to negate spending allocated by Congress. The denied funding affects multiple programs and agencies that serve immigrants, minority groups, and Department of Health and Human Services research programs.
The administration argued that while the law gives Congress 45 days to accept or reject the White House’s decision to withhold funds, that agreement cannot be followed if the action occurs less than 45 days before the end of the fiscal year. That argument has been challenged in court and criticized by lawyers and Republican and Democratic lawmakers.
With just days left before the end of the fiscal year on September 30, the House of Representatives is not expected to return until after the November midterm elections.
The White House announced the move in a statement on Friday, describing the rejected funding as “the most harmful form of government spending.”
“President Trump is committed to using every tool possible to cut wasteful and harmful government spending that does not serve American citizens,” the statement read.
Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Susan Collins, R-Maine, called the administration’s actions “illegal” on Friday and said: “I will work with my colleagues to address these illegal actions.”
“This move shows [the Office of Management and Budget] “These funds were deliberately withheld for months to illegally eliminate appropriations that were bipartisan approved and signed into law,” Collins wrote in a statement. “The delay itself is not only a seizure that is not reported to Congress, but a usurpation of Congress’s appropriations authority.”
She wrote that because OMB is part of the executive branch, “it cannot decide which projects are worthy of funding.”
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., who serves as vice chair of the Appropriations Committee, called the move a “theft from the American people” and pointed the finger at Russ Vought, director of the Office of Management Budget.
“Raswater’s message to Congress is that your vote doesn’t matter and your laws are optional,” Murray said in a statement. “Now is the time for my Republican colleagues to stand up and join us in stopping this and reminding this administration that this is not how it works.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., also criticized the tactic, writing in a statement, “With this repeal package, the Trump Administration has illegally stripped away nearly $1 billion in critical funding that supports children, K-12 students, small businesses, and health and clean air research.”
Schumer added that Senate Democrats would “challenge Trump’s illegal cuts.”
The White House listed the projects it refused to fund and wrote that tax dollars were “wasted.” These programs include funding for several NGOs that provide services to immigrants and refugees, NGOs that provide housing counseling, and funding to support bringing foreign students and faculty to U.S. academic institutions.
The administration also said it was denying funding for the Community Relations Service, an agency within the Department of Justice created as part of the Civil Rights Act and nicknamed “America’s Peacemakers.” The White House also listed rejecting funding for a program that would provide debt relief to countries enacting climate change policies and a program to aid minority business owners.
A Department of Health and Human Services research program that the White House deemed “overfunded and inconsistently funded” was also rejected. It also returns funds to the department’s Office of Minority Health.
Trump used the same tactic last year to announce $4.9 billion in cuts, including a $3.2 billion cut to the US Agency for International Development, a $322 million cut to the USAID National Democracy Fund, and hundreds of millions of dollars in funding to support global peacekeeping activities.
Last year, $4.9 billion in cuts to foreign aid were challenged in court, but the Supreme Court ultimately ruled in favor of the government in September 2025.
Congress approved a repeal package in July 2025 that eliminated $9 billion in foreign aid and aid to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which funds NPR and PBS.
Last year, attorneys for the Government Accountability Office, a nonpartisan federal agency, published an article on WatchBlog arguing that pocket revocations were illegal.
“Small revocations allow the president to avoid spending money regardless of whether Congress approves the revocation request,” the post reads. “This effectively allows the president to change the law by shortening the period during which fixed-term funds are available, thereby giving up Congress’ fiscal power.”
The Trump administration cited in its argument the Impoundment Control Act of 1974, which Congress passed to regulate presidential control of the budget. Former President Richard Nixon previously tried to withhold spending on projects he did not support.
The government has argued that it can withhold funds through small reversals, a practice that had not been used in nearly 50 years until Trump revived it last year.
Despite the controversy over the tactic, the White House on Friday again touted the president’s use.
“Last year, President Trump took the historic step of deploying the first ‘pocket revocation’ in 50 years, using the long-neglected presidential power granted to him by the Seizure Control Act,” the statement said, adding, “This year, he will continue to fulfill his promise.”