Democrat Rep. Chellie Pingree of Maine’s First Congressional District, alongside Republican Sen. Susan Collins, has criticized President Donald Trump’s (R) attempt to cancel $5 billion worth of federal spending in what is being called a “pocket rescission.”
This move represents a rare use of the rescission process, which more typically finds the president requesting that Congress cancel previously approved federal funding and to withhold the money for 45 days while lawmakers decide whether or not to act.
Because there are less than 45 days until the end of the fiscal year, the President Trump’s plan to claw back billions in federal funding will effectively be implemented regardless of whether or not Congress approves of it.
According to the New York Post, a similar move has not been made by a president in nearly 50 years.
While some have criticized the President’s “pocket rescission” as an illegal usurpation of Congress’ power of the purse, others have argued that it is an appropriate exercise of the authority granted to the chief executive in the Impoundment Control Act (ICA) of 1974.
It is under the ICA that presidents are granted the ability to make a rescission request, outlining the full procedure for doing so, including the 45-day withholding period.
Earlier this month, Collins found herself among the lawmakers criticizing President Trump for attempting to invoke this so-called “pocket rescission.”
“I was disappointed more than surprised, because it clearly is an end-run around Congress,” Collins said according to NBC News, referring to the move as “a clear violation of the law.”
“We are looking at the options,” she told reporters. “Our chief counsel on the committee is going through the law and looking at what happened when Jimmy Carter, President Carter, tried this, and coming up with some options for us to look at.”
On August 29, Pingree issued a statement referring to the move as an “unlawful effort to unilaterally cancel appropriated funding.”
“Once again, President Trump—with the help of Project 2025 architect Russ Vought—is attempting to claw back billions of dollars in funding already appropriated by Congress,” she wrote. “This so-called ‘pocket rescission’ is illegal, unconstitutional, and a brazen attempt by the president to further consolidate power and usurp the explicit funding authority of Congress.”
“The Constitution is clear,” she continued. “This is a flagrant affront to Congress’s power of the purse.”
“The programs and initiatives the president is trying to stop—including $5 billion for biomedical research and disease prevention and $2.5 billion for state and local crime-prevention efforts—had bipartisan support,” wrote Pingree.
“This president believes that only his priorities matter,” Pingree concluded. “It’s wrong, it’s dangerous, and it underscores this administration’s increasingly authoritarian behavior.”
Click Here to Read Rep. Pingree’s Full Statement
Although Collins was joined by a number of some Republicans in her skepticism of this latest move to pull back government spending, most in her party are supportive of the President’s efforts.
“We’ve got $37 trillion in debt, and all the people screaming at the administration for breaching separation of power are missing the point,” said Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA), who serves on the Appropriations Committee with Collins. “The point is, we need to reduce spending.”
Pingree, however, was joined by a number of Democratic lawmakers — including prominent members of the party — in criticizing the move.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), for example, accused Trump in a letter to colleagues of “waging an all-out war against Congress’s Article I authority and the constitutional balance of power.”
“Senate Republicans must decide: stand up for the legislative branch or enable Trump’s slide toward authoritarianism,” he said.
