President Donald Trump is unilaterally trying to cancel $4.9 billion dollars in foreign aid, and his attempt is throwing yet another wrench into government funding negotiations that need to be settled by Sept. 30.
Trump announced the funding cancellation Thursday night through a process called a “pocket rescission,” which was proposed by Office of Management and Budget director Russ Vought earlier this year. The Government Accountability Office has previously deemed pocket rescissions illegal, as Congress is supposed to be the only branch that can appropriate or administer government funds, but the matter is far from settled law.
Essentially, the president submits a rescission request so late in the fiscal year that Congress doesn’t have enough time to act on the request — or, at least, doesn’t have the 45 days lawmakers are supposed to have. With the fiscal year coming to a close on Sept. 30, lawmakers have just over a month to act on the rescission.