Sen. Susan Collins, the chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, told reporters that she is looking at ways to push back after President Donald Trump canceled nearly $1 billion in spending that was approved by Congress.
Trump’s Office of Management and Budget cut nearly $810 million in funds appropriated for health, education and a number of other programs on Friday, just days before the end of the fiscal year.
Collins said Monday that outside groups are likely to challenge the cancellation, which is called a “pocket rescission,” in court. She also said she intends to add guardrails to the next set of appropriations bills Congress must pass in December to prevent similar cuts in the future.
“There are a number of options,” Collins told reporters. “Outside groups may sue, especially since the GAO [Government Accountability Office] has already said that this is not legal under the Impoundment and Budget Control Act.”
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Collins, a Republican from Maine, is defending her seat in a “toss up” race, where she has campaigned on her role helming the Appropriations Committee and has increasingly distanced herself from the unpopular president.
Congress is typically able to review proposed spending cuts, but that is all but impossible when the Senate is set to head out of town this week and the fiscal year expires Sept. 30.
Collins noted that although Republicans have previously opposed putting restrictions on rescissions into appropriations bills, she isn’t making “any assumptions” on how her party will react until specific language is drafted.
“We’re already looking at whether there’s language we can put in the next set of appropriations bills that would prohibit this from happening,” Collins said. “It’s going to take some legal work.”
Other Republican senators echoed Collins’ disapproval of the White House’s move in a departure from some in the party’s previous posture on the practice.
Sen. Mike Rounds (R-South Dakota), an appropriator, told reporters that the move by the White House is counterproductive and undermines government funding negotiations, especially as the Trump administration seeks additional funding for the war in Iran.
“It’s going to make it very hard for us to actually get an outcome in the next appropriations bill,” Rounds said of the rollbacks.
Sen. John Curtis (R-Utah) echoed Rounds, saying that the job of appropriating money “belongs to Congress, not the executive branch.”
And Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said the sudden cancellation of those funds is unlawful, adding, “I don’t think the president has the authority to do it.”
Though Senate Majority Leader John Thune did not go as far as condemning the White House’s cuts, he agreed with Collins that the outcome will likely continue to play out in the courts.
“That again is something the courts probably decide,” Thune said. “Some of these things may be things that many of us agree with. But the process by which they did it is one that is going to be, I assume, subject to a lot of discussion and probably some litigation.”
Democratic appropriators have expressed support for Collins’ call to place guardrails on the sudden cancellation of funds by the executive branch. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Illinois), another appropriator, told The Washington Sun on Monday that he hopes to work with Republicans on it.
“Wouldn’t it be nice if the Republicans who voted for the spending would now stand up and say, ‘This is wrong. We want to restore these funds,’” Durbin said. “It would be nice to have that kind of bipartisanship.”
The spending canceled by the Trump administration primarily focused on services for immigrants, including for nonprofit organizations that assist refugees. The White House claims the funds are no longer necessary while border crossings have dropped significantly.
Trump issued such a rescission for the first time in more than 50 years last year, blocking $4.9 billion in foreign aid approved by Congress. The Supreme Court declined to block those cuts.
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