CDC staff gather behind the leader who resigned after the manager was fired
CDC staff formed a line of applause to honor three senior officials who resigned after President Donald Trump fired coach Susan Monares.
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump is bypassing Congress and unilaterally revoking $4.9 billion in foreign aid funds approved by Congress.
Trump notified House Speaker Mike Johnson in a one-page letter on August 28 that he planned to withdraw a total of $4.9 billion expenditure for the International Bureau and the U.S. International Development and International Assistance Program.
The cut was immediately opposed by Republican Sen. Susan Collins, R Maine, who chairs the Senate Budget Committee. “Efforts to withdraw funds allocated without Congressional approval are a clear violation of the law,” Collins said.
The move is expected to be challenged in court, and will simply determine how federal funds will be spent based on Trump’s attempts to assert the power of the presidency in a second term. He oversaw money previously approved by Congress, set up the government’s Ministry of Efficiency, or Doge, to wipe out government programs and contracts, and enter into contracts that say the administration is wasted or insane.
“Pocket Retraction” appears to codify the previous cuts identified by Doge. This includes USAID’s $3.2 billion on initiatives to combat climate change, food and hunger efforts, research and additional humanitarian efforts.
The cancelled State Department funding includes $340 million for the global climate and clean energy program, $297 million for foreign biodiversity programs and $40 million for development initiatives. The administration also plans to cut funding for gender equality and women’s empowerment programs.
Under the Congress-approved U.S. Congress-approved U.S. Congress-based Congress-based and Budget Management and Water Storage Management Act of 1974, it is not permitted to cancel legally required funds. But Las Vote, White House Director of Business and Budget, argued that the water storage law is not a condition, and that the president can decide how the funds will be used.
To halt $4.9 billion in foreign aid, the White House cites a provision rarely used in the water storage law known as the “pocket withdrawal.” Vought claims that the president is permitted by law to withhold funds for 45 days. In other words, the strategy is to effectively exhaust the clock before the funds expire at the end of the fiscal year on September 30th.
“Last night, President Trump used Pocket withdrawal to cancel $4.9 billion in the US,” the management and the Budget Office said in a post in X. “(President Trump always puts America first!”
A White House official who discussed “pocket withdrawal” on condition of anonymity said it was the first time the president has used the provisions in 50 years. Despite legal concerns raised by Collins and Democrats in Congress, officials argued that the administration is the legal basis and that they would win in court.
An official who explained to reporters during the August 29 call said that money cannot be used before the end of the fiscal year due to the president’s support of foreign aid programs due to the written method of the law.
Trump’s ending Congress attempts will likely complicate efforts to get the federal government to work after September 30, when Congress must pass a budget bill to avoid closure.
“It’s clear that neither Trump nor Congressional Republicans have plans to avoid painful, completely unnecessary shutdowns,” Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer called Trump’s actions “illegal.”
Collins said Article 1 of the Constitution “clears the responsibility of Congress for the power of the wallet.”
“Instead of this attempt to undermine the law, the right way to do this is to identify ways to reduce excess spending through a bipartisan annual spending process,” Colin said.
Reach Joey Garrison with X @joeygarrison.
