Trump plans to cut $5 billion in foreign aid

2025-08-29 21:17:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

The Trump administration has taken steps to cut $5bn (£3.7bn) in foreign aid that was already allocated by Congress earlier this year. The president is using a covert maneuver known as “pocket cancellation”, or a request to withdraw funds approved so late in the fiscal year that if Congress does not give its opinion, the allocated money is canceled. The move, which aims to cut billions of dollars in programs, including funding for peacekeeping operations abroad, has not been tried in nearly 50 years. The budget tactic is likely to face legal challenges because it effectively bypasses the legislative branch to directly cut spending.

The decision was announced by the White House Office of Management and Budget in a social media post on Friday. Funding cuts included about $3 billion in funding for USAID and $900 million in State Department funding. About $800 million allocated for international peacekeeping operations and more than $300 million to encourage democratic values ??in other countries were also among the cuts.

"The Trump administration is committed to putting America's fiscal house in order by cutting government spending that is smart, resource-intensive, and wasteful," the White House said in a statement.

Trump is using a “pocket recession” through the Sequestration Control Act, which gives a president the power to request the cancellation of funds approved by Congress. Congress can then vote to cut the funds or withhold them within 45 days, but by requesting this so close to the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30, the money could go unspent. Some experts have questioned the legality of financial recessions, including the Government Accountability Office, which argues that the budget tool circumvents Congress’s power over the budget. Sen. Susan Collins, a Maine Republican, said the Constitution “makes it clear that Congress has the power of the purse” and any attempt to withdraw funds “without Congressional approval is a clear violation of the law.”

"Instead of this attempt to undermine the law, the proper course of action is to identify ways to reduce excessive spending through the annual bipartisan appropriations process. Congress regularly approves waivers as part of this process," Collins said in a statement.

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York said Trump's use of the pocket recession could undermine normal congressional procedure and result in "a painful and completely unnecessary shutdown" of the government. Former President Jimmy Carter was the last president to use a pocket recession in 1977. Since returning to office, Trump has slashed foreign aid, largely closing the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the main foreign aid agency, because he considered its spending "wasteful."/ CNA, translated by BBC