SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
jamie raskin
Trump Bid to Block $4.9 Billion With 'Pocket Rescission' Blasted as 'Authoritarianism 101'
"Congress—and only Congress—passes budgets. Because the president's job is to take care the laws are faithfully executed, he must spend the money as directed," said Rep. Jamie Raskin, a constitutional scholar.
Aug 30, 2025
Democracy defenders and members of Congress are condemning US President Donald Trump's effort to use a "pocket rescission" process to block $4.9 billion in foreign aid as authoritarian and illegal.
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on Friday shared on social media Trump's letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) about the move. According to a White House fact sheet linked in a subsequent post, much of the money was headed for the US Department of State and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which Trump has gutted.
As The Associated Press explained:
The 1974 Impoundment Control Act gives the president the authority to propose canceling funds approved by Congress. Congress can within 45 days vote on pulling back the funds or sustaining them, but by proposing the rescission so close to September 30 the White House argues that the money won’t be spent and the funding lapses.
What was essentially the last pocket rescission occurred in 1977 by Democratic then-President Jimmy Carter, and the Trump administration argues it's a legally permissible tool despite some murkiness as Carter had initially proposed the clawback well ahead of the 45-day deadline.
Shortly after the OMB social media posts, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that OMB Director Russ Vought was helping shutter USAID, writing on the platform X: "Since January, we've saved the taxpayers tens of billions of dollars. And with a small set of core programs moved over to the State Department, USAID is officially in closeout mode. Russ is now at the helm to oversee the closeout of an agency that long ago went off the rails. Congrats, Russ."
Meanwhile, Rubio's former congressional colleagues and others are sounding the alarm over the administration's effort.
"America is staring down next month's government funding deadline on September 30," said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). "It's clear neither Trump nor congressional Republicans have any plan to avoid a painful and entirely unnecessary shutdown. With Trump's illegal 'pocket rescission': They seem eager to inflict further pain on the American people, raising their healthcare costs, compromising essential services, and further damaging our national security."
Congressman Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) also put pressure on GOP lawmakers, saying that "this is wrong—and illegal. Not only is Trump gutting $5 billion in foreign aid that saves lives and advances America's interests, but he's doing so using an unlawful 'pocket recission' method that undermines Congress' power of the purse. I urge my Republican colleagues to say hell no."
While most Republicans on Capitol Hill have backed Trump's endeavors to claw back funding previously appropriated by Congress, GOP Sens. Susan Collins (Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) voted against his $9 billion rescission package earlier this year.
Collins, chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, also spoke out against Trump's new move, noting in a Friday statement that under the US Constitution, Congress has "the power of the purse," and the Government Accountability Office "has concluded that this type of rescission is unlawful and not permitted by the Impoundment Control Act."
Congressman Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), a constitutional scholar, similarly stressed that "Congress—and only Congress—passes budgets. Because the president's job is to take care the laws are faithfully executed, he must spend the money as directed. Trump's 'pocket recissions' are lawless and absurd. If a president opposes legislative spending decisions, he can veto them, subject to override, but once passed, he must execute on them."
Lisa Gilbert, co-president of the watchdog group Public Citizen, declared in a Friday statement that with the pocket rescission move, the Trump administration "demonstrated yet again its contempt for Congress' power of the purse and the Constitution's separation of powers."
"With this Constitution-mocking action, the administration is bringing us closer to a shutdown on September 30, and it doesn't seem to care," Gilbert said. "We call on Congress to push back, pass and abide by appropriations packages, and fight the administration’s illegal impoundments that harm regular Americans."
"This is not just a constitutional crisis, it's a matter of global justice," she added. "The congressionally appropriated funds that the Trump administration illegally aims to cancel support economic development programs to empower the world's most vulnerable and impoverished, and address some of the ravage of catastrophic climate change in developing nations."
Keep ReadingShow Less
House Dems Unveil Bill to End 'Unlawful' Trump Takeover of DC
"The only emergency here is a lawless president experiencing a growing public relations emergency because of his close friendship with Jeffrey Epstein," said Rep. Jamie Raskin.
Aug 15, 2025
As part of the ongoing battle against US President Donald Trump's "hostile takeover" of Washington, DC, key congressional Democrats on Friday introduced a resolution to terminate his executive order, "Declaring a Crime Emergency in the District of Columbia."
The resolution explains that Trump "has failed to identify special conditions of an emergency nature that compel the use of the
Metropolitan Police Department for federal purposes," and "even if properly invoked for an actual emergency, Section 740 of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act does not empower the president to federalize" the MPD.
"Violent crime in the District of Columbia has declined for the past two years and currently stands at a 30-year low," the measure notes. Additionally, it points out, the GOP-controlled federal government this year has prevented DC from "spending $1 billion of its own locally raised revenues—money that was budgeted for essential public safety purposes, including law enforcement, fire and emergency response services, and schools."
The bill's lead sponsors tied Trump's federalization of the MPD to his efforts to distract from intense calls—including from his base—to release files related to the federal case against deceased financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
"The only emergency here is a lawless president experiencing a growing public relations emergency because of his close friendship with Jeffrey Epstein and his stubborn refusal to release the Epstein file despite his promise to do so," said US House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) in a statement.
"Trump has made clear that his efforts in DC, where 700,000 taxpaying American citizens lack the protections of statehood, are part of a broader plan to militarize and federalize the streets of cities around America whose citizens voted against him," he added. Trump this week deployed the National Guard in the nation's capital and threatened to do the same in other US cities—including Baltimore, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and Oakland—where crime rates are also falling.
No emergency exists in DC that the president did not create himself, and he is not using MPD for federal purposes, as required by law. I introduced legislation with RM Raskin, RM Garcia, & Senator Van Hollen to end the unlawful and unprecedented federalization of MPD.
[image or embed]
— Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) (@eleanornorton.bsky.social) August 15, 2025 at 1:23 PM
Like Raskin—who led the historic second effort to impeach the president after his supporters stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021—House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Ranking Member Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) framed the DC takeover as Trump "making every effort to distract America from Epstein."
In addition to Raskin and Garcia, the bill is sponsored by DC's sole representative in Congress, Democratic Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton, who can participate in most House proceedings but not vote on final passage of legislation.
"President Trump's incursions against DC are among the most egregious attacks on DC home rule in decades," she said. "DC residents are Americans, worthy of the same autonomy granted to residents of the states. Our local police force, paid for by DC residents, should not be subject to federalization, an action that wouldn't be possible for any other police department in the country."
"No emergency exists in DC that the president did not create himself, and he is not using the DC Police for federal purposes, as required by law," Norton continued. "I appreciate Ranking Member Raskin's enduring support for DC and for working with me to end this unprecedented, dangerous, and disgraceful violation of DC's right to govern its own local affairs."
Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), who will introduce the joint resolution in the upper chamber, noted that "Trump was AWOL when the District of Columbia actually needed support from the National Guard to protect it from an insurrectionist mob on January 6th."
"His current takeover is an abuse of power and nothing more than a raw power grab," Van Hollen added. "The District of Columbia has made important progress on public safety in recent years, and can do more if Trump and House Republicans get the hell out of their way and stop blocking D.C. from accessing $1 billion of its own funds to strengthen policing and provide other public services."
Earlier Friday, DC Attorney General Brian Schwalb filed a lawsuit to block US Attorney General Pam Bondi from taking over the city's police department.
"I applaud DC for taking legal action to end the president's unlawful attempt to seize control of MPD," Norton said on social media, also highlighting the resolution in Congress. "DC is united in our resistance."
Keep ReadingShow Less
House Judiciary, Oversight Dems Want Answers on Potential Misuse of FBI
The FBI helping to locate Democratic state legislators who fled Texas to block GOP gerrymandering "raises serious questions about potential overreach and misuse of federal power," said members of Congress.
Aug 08, 2025
Democrats on key panels in the U.S. House of Representatives wrote to top Trump administration officials on Friday to demand answers about the potential misuse of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Texas legislators' gerrymandering battle.
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said Thursday that FBI Director Kash Patel approved his request for the bureau to "assist" with locating Democratic Texas legislators who fled to Illinois, Massachusetts, and New York to block a rigged congressional map that Republicans are trying to pass during a special session to appease President Donald Trump and help the GOP keep control of Congress next year.
Cornyn told radio host Mark Davis that Patel assigned FBI agents from two Texas cities, Austin and San Antonio, to meet his request. The senator also suggested that the state Democrats may be breaking the law by accepting money for travel—which came from Beto O'Rourke's political action committee, Powered by People, and the George Soros-backed Texas Majority PAC, according to The Texas Tribune—but neither Cornyn nor the director has provided details about FBI involvement.
Four Democratic leaders in the U.S. House want those details. Two members from Texas—Reps. Greg Casar and Jasmine Crockett—joined Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (Md.) and Oversight Committee Ranking Member Robert Garcia (Calif.) for a Friday letter to Patel and U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, as the FBI is part of the U.S. Department of Justice.
Trump is reportedly deploying the FBI to hunt down Texas Democrats that are blocking Republican attempts to rig future elections. It’s a gross abuse of power. Oversight Dems and @democrats-judiciary.house.gov, led by @repcasar.bsky.social, @crockett.house.gov, and Robert Garcia, are investigating.
[image or embed]
— Oversight Dems (@oversightdemocrats.house.gov) August 8, 2025 at 11:12 AM
The congressional Democrats expressed "great concern about the abuse of federal public safety resources for completely political purposes and without a law enforcement rationale," and demanded information about the FBI's "involvement in efforts to locate or apprehend" Texas lawmakers "who are not accused of any federal crime but have chosen to break quorum during the current legislative session."
"Breaking quorum has occurred periodically in the Texas political process for more than a century," they noted. In this case, over 50 Democrats "left the state to counter President Trump's aggressive moves to consolidate power by redrawing congressional district lines in Texas to prevent being investigated by a Democratic majority" in the U.S. House.
Reports from the past 24 hours "suggest that the FBI is diverting federal law enforcement away from fighting terrorism, drug trafficking, and other federal crimes to instead harass and target Texans' duly elected representatives, and thus raise urgent questions about the legal basis, scale, and appropriateness of federal law enforcement involvement in a state-level political matter," the letter continues, calling on the Trump officials to reply to a list of 10 questions by August 21.
"Given the FBI's crucial role as a federal law enforcement agency, it is essential that its actions be guided by clear legal authority, political neutrality, and an appropriate respect for the autonomy of state legislatures and their members," the letter stresses. "The involvement of federal agents in a state-level political dispute raises serious questions about potential overreach and misuse of federal power."
Trump's effort to redo Texas' congressional map—a model that the White House is trying to push in other GOP-controlled states—and related concerns about FBI involvement come amid broader fears about how the president and his allies are impacting the bureau.
Multiple media outlets reported Thursday that the administration is ousting at least three top officials—former acting Director Brian Driscoll, Walter Giardina, and Steven Jensen—as part of what critics called a "campaign to weaponize federal law enforcement and replace highly experienced public servants with political hacks eager to carry out Trump's retribution agenda."
Raskin said in a lengthy Friday statement that "Patel's unceremonious firing of Brian Driscoll reflects the accelerating purge at the FBI of anyone who refuses to pledge their blind and paramount loyalty to Donald Trump over the rule of law and the Constitution."
"Instead of investigating and stopping child predators, the FBI is now redacting their names from the Epstein files," Raskin said, referring to records from the federal case against deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who was a friend of Trump. "Instead of hunting down terrorists and criminals, the FBI is tracking down state legislators standing up for voting rights."
"Instead of rewarding agents who love this country and keep their oath to the Constitution, the FBI is sacking them and replacing them with hacks and fanatics," he continued. "The firing of Mr. Driscoll and other career agents is a shameful affront to the rule of law and typifies the Trump administration's campaign to replace nonpartisan career law enforcement professionals with political loyalists and incompetent sycophants."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular