08.29.25

Senator Murray Statement on Trump’s Latest Rescission Request

 

Murray: “No lawmaker should accept this absurd, illegal ploy to steal their constitutional power to determine how taxpayer dollars get spent.”

 

Trump asks Congress to claw back billions in bipartisan national security investments—and incorrectly insists that the timing of his request allows him to zero out the funds unilaterally

 

Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, issued the following statement on President Trump’s new request to rescind nearly $5 billion in funding that Congress has provided and that has been signed into law:

 

“Donald Trump wants to zero out more bipartisan investments in our national security and global leadership. This time, however, he is attempting to do an end run around Congress altogether. No lawmaker should accept this absurd, illegal ploy to steal their constitutional power to determine how taxpayer dollars get spent.

 

“Russ Vought would like us all to believe that making this rescissions request just weeks away from the end of the fiscal year provides some sort of get-out-of-jail-free card for this administration to simply not spend investments Congress has made; it emphatically does not. Legal experts have made clear this scheme is illegal, and so have my Republican colleagues.

 

“Republicans should not accept Russ Vought’s brazen attempt to usurp their own power. No president has a line item veto—and certainly not a retroactive line-item veto. Congress should reject this request and this ridiculous, illegal maneuver—and instead insist on making decisions over spending through the bipartisan appropriations process.

 

“Illegally zeroing out these funds doesn’t put America first—it puts China first. Eliminating these investments will give up America’s seat at the table, retreating from key decision-making bodies and ceding ground to countries like China at a critical moment. Abandoning allies and partners around the world and cutting funding for peacekeeping efforts doesn’t make America more safe, it helps conflicts spiral out of control and threaten our own security. This should be rejected outright.

 
“Importantly, there are many billions of dollars more that this administration continues to illegally hold up, robbing communities across America. It must release all of these investments Congress has made.”

 

President Trump made the rescissions request under a fast-tracked process provided by the Impoundment Control Act (the same law President Trump and his budget director, Russ Vought, claim is unconstitutional). The process allows a president to request Congress rescind federal funding with a simple majority vote in each chamber. Under the law, if a bill rescinding some or all of the funding is not passed within 45 days of continuous session, the president must release the funding.

 

But Russ Vought and this administration have wrongly—and absurdly—insisted that making a rescissions request with fewer than 45 days until the end of the fiscal year (when the particular funds would otherwise expire) allows the president to cancel the funding with or without the approval of Congress—through what they call a “pocket rescission.” This fringe legal theory has been repeatedly rebuffed by legal experts, the Government Accountability Office (GAO), and Democratic and Republican lawmakers alike. GAO has plainly stated this gambit is illegal, as have top Republican lawmakers.

 

President Trump’s rescissions request asks Congress to claw back $4.9 billion in national security investments, including:

  • $445 million in security assistance provided in the Peacekeeping Operations/National Security Engagement account, which supports counterterrorism in Somalia and the Sahel, cybersecurity assistance for key African partners, and other military-centric initiatives to counter terrorist organizations and counter Russian and Chinese influence, particularly in Africa. No programs are specifically spared in the request.
  • $3.2 billion from the Development Assistance account (the entire remaining amount of funds), including to rescind the majority of funds from:
    • Food security and agricultural research programs, including the Innovation Labs at universities across the country;
    • The Countering PRC Influence Fund;
    • Efforts to limit irregular migration to the United States;
    • Initiatives to strengthen the investment climate and create opportunities for U.S. companies to expand and compete in overseas markets;
    • Support for clean water, efforts to sustain education in conflict environments, and other initiatives that save lives and mitigate insecurity; and
    • Many other bipartisan initiatives.
  • $322 million from the Democracy Fund, including funds used to counter repressive regimes.
  • $913 million from U.S. treaty dues to the United Nations, including to support peacekeeping missions. As a recent Trump administration report notes, failure to pay our dues can impair the ability of UN entities and peacekeeping missions to operate, which ultimately undermines U.S. interests. The Chinese government is actively seeking to expand its influence in these bodies, including through increased financial support.

 

Once again, the Trump administration is citing cherry-picked examples of past projects and initiatives that it finds objectionable and that were funded by these larger funding streams as a means of justifying cancelling billions of dollars in funding. The reality is this administration has flexibility to determine how exactly to fulfill the objectives provided by Congress for this funding—just as any administration does.

 

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