Trump’s move: Congress approves $5 billion in foreign aid cuts

International

The Donald Trump administration is moving to roll back nearly $5 billion (£3.7 billion) in foreign aid spending previously approved by Congress, the White House’s Office of Management and Budget announced in a social media post on Friday.

The Trump administration is taking this step using a rare process known as “pocket rescission.” It involves sending a proposal to Congress at the very end of the fiscal year, effectively waiving the appropriations if Congress does not vote on it in time.

Such a move has not been taken in nearly 50 years. The last time it was used was by former President Jimmy Carter in 1977. Nearly $3 billion has been cut from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), $900 million from State Department funds, nearly $800 million from funding for international peacekeeping operations, and more than $300 million from assistance to strengthen democratic values.

“This administration is committed to cutting spending to restore America’s fiscal discipline. We must stop spending money on woke, politically abused, and wasteful sectors,” the White House said in a statement.

However, legal experts say this process effectively bypasses Congress’s ‘authorization power’, which could face legal challenges.

Republican Senator Susan Collins said, “The Constitution makes it clear that the power to appropriate funds belongs to Congress. Withdrawing funds without Congressional approval is tantamount to violating the law.”

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, on the other hand, warned that the move could disrupt normal parliamentary processes and result in a “painful and unnecessary government shutdown.”

Since returning to the White House, Trump has been slashing foreign aid. He has almost shut down the US’s main foreign aid agency, USAID, because he considers its spending “wasteful.”