Congress’s watchdog arm says the Trump administration’s $800 million “pocket rescission” violates Congress’ constitutional control over government spending, once again raising the stakes for any anticipated litigation.
The Government Accountability Office said Tuesday that the Trump administration’s plan to unilaterally rescind money that Congress appropriated for the 2026 fiscal year violates the Impoundment Control Act, a law passed in the aftermath of Watergate to codify Congress’ sole power of the purse.
The pocket rescission “subverts both the constitutional process for enacting federal law and Congress’s constitutional power of the purse,” Edda Emmanuelli Perez, general counsel for the GAO, wrote Tuesday in a letter to Congress and Trump administration officials.
The Trump administration told Congress on Friday that it plans to rescind about $800 million in funds for programs at Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, the Justice Department and other federal agencies. The majority of the funds — about $567 million — were intended for HHS’s Office of Refugee Resettlement.
Trending
Under a normal rescissions process, Congress has 45 days to vote on a White House rescissions package. A “pocket rescission” is when the White House sends that request to Congress at the end of the fiscal year, giving Congress no time to vote on the request before funding expires.
This is the second year the Trump administration has issued pocket rescissions. Last year’s pocket rescissions were about five times larger than this year’s.
The GAO’s warning once again raises questions around whether the watchdog agency will take any legal action against the administration. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled in August 2025 that the GAO is the only group with the power to sue the administration over violations of the Impoundment Control Act.
The GAO reached a similar conclusion last year about the first set of pocket rescissions, but did not sue the administration.
“Our GC is incredibly squeamish,” one current GAO employee told The Washington Sun.
The Trump administration dismissed the GAO’s findings.
“Not a surprise. GAO has become hyper partisan and Congress recently attempted to cut their spending because of it,” Russell Vought, the Office of Management and Budget director, posted on X about the GAO’s decision. “GAO changed its long-time opinion on this very issue from the 1970s when they specifically noted the tool was available to the president. They make their legal assessments based on whether Democrats are in the White House.”
“We are just using the system CONGRESS established and never changed despite being told by your own GAO to change it,” Mark Paoletta, the general counsel for OMB, wrote on X.
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) told reporters Monday that she’s exploring whether it is possible to add new language to future appropriations bills that would prohibit pocket rescissions.
Author
Contributor
