The powers are called “pocket rescission.” That means no more millions of taxpayer dollars to pay for programs like promoting democracy among LGBTQ people in the Balkans.\
By Catholics for Catholics
Intending to use a rarely invoked power, President Donald Trump has notified Congress he plans to cancel almost $5 billion in congressionally approved aid.
According to Newsmax, the president is determined to use a “pocket rescission,” which has been cited only in limited instances during the past half-century, to withdraw funding that, according to the New York Post, includes:
$3.2 billion in United States Agency for International Development (USAID) development assistance.
$322 million from the USAID-State Department Democracy Fund.
$521 million in State Department contributions to international organizations.
$393 million in State Department contributions to peacekeeping activities.
$445 million in separately budgeted peacekeeping aid.
Some programs the Trump administration has considered extravagant include $3.9 million to propagate democracy among LGBT people in the Western Balkans and $24.6 million for “climate resilience” in Honduras, the Post reported. There’s also $2.7 million for a South African organization that published inflammatory racial articles including “The Problem with White People.”
Trump told Congress after the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals earlier in the day lifted an injunction and permitted the president to advance in attempting to use a pocket rescission.
The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB paused the spending earlier this year, but a lawsuit filed by the Global Health Council then put the rescission in an indeterminate state. The president on Thursday night informed lawmakers of his intention to cancel the funds, the outlet added.
An official from the OMB approved the move on Friday. “Congress can choose to vote to rescind or continue the funds — it doesn’t matter,” an OMB official said in a statement to Politico. “This approach is rare but not unprecedented.”
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