Congress Braces for Funding Battle as Lawmakers Return
August 29, 2025
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11:09Now PlayingCongress Braces for Funding Battle as Lawmakers Return
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as posted by the channelFormer Republican Congressman Patrick McHenry breaks down the chances of a government shutdown in the fall and warns democrats they may be playing into the Trump administration's plans. McHenry also weighs in on Trump's threats to send the National Guard into more democrat-led cities across the country.
resident Donald Trump asked Congress to claw back nearly $5 billion in already-approved foreign aid spending, a proposal timed to take advantage of the looming end of the fiscal year and allowing him to cut the funding himself if lawmakers fail to act by the close of September.
The maneuver challenges Congress’ spending powers and intensifies an already contentious battle over government funding, which is due to lapse Sept. 30. Democrats are sure to seek guarantees Trump will actually spend money lawmakers appropriate in exchange for their votes to keep the government open.
The proposed cuts include $3.2 billion in US Agency for International Development assistance, $322 million from the USAID-State Department Democracy Fund, $521 million in State Department contributions to international organizations, $393 million in State Department contributions to peacekeeping activities and $445 million in separately budgeted peacekeeping aid, according to an administration official who described the notification on the condition of anonymity.
Trump notified lawmakers of the plan in a message triggering a law allowing him to freeze the funds while waiting for Congress to act. The effort was first reported by the New York Post.
The maneuver, which White House budget director Russ Vought calls a “pocket rescission,” is a little-tested tactic that, if successful, could tip the balance of spending powers in the federal government.
The fight has already divided Trump’s own party — particularly in the Senate, where Republicans Mike Rounds of South Dakota and Susan Collins of Maine worry that it could upset a time-honored understanding of which branch has the power of the purse.
“Any effort to rescind appropriated funds without congressional approval is a clear violation of the law,” Collins, who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, said in a statement Friday.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said the move “is further proof President Trump and Congressional Republicans are hellbent on rejecting bipartisanship and ‘going it alone’ this fall.”
“If Republicans are insistent on going it alone, Democrats won’t be party to their destruction,” Schumer said in a statement.
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