President Donald Trump is rescinding $4.9 billion in foreign aid, a move that further complicates a protracted and partisan government funding fight ahead of a Sept. 30 shutdown deadline set to engulf Congress when it returns next week from summer recess.

The White House budget office notified Congress of its intent to use a so-called “pocket” rescission, a legally untested maneuver that allows presidents, in certain cases, to withdraw appropriated funds without the approval of lawmakers, but that has not been used since 1977 by President Jimmy Carter’s administration.

Recommended Stories

• Schumer calls on Trump to fire RFK Jr. after CDC shakeup and vaccine fallout
• Trump firings to ensnarl GOP Senate after wave of dramatic ousters
• RFK Jr. to testify before Senate in wake of ousting CDC director

The White House previously paused the spending, but it was held up in litigation brought by the Global Health Council until Thursday, when the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals lifted an injunction.

The move created seismic waves and bipartisan anguish on Capitol Hill, with Democrats resurfacing warnings that the prospect of reaching a bipartisan funding deal to avoid an Oct. 1 government shutdown would be further jeopardized.

Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Susan Collins (R-ME), a frequent centrist critic of the administration who is up for reelection, accused the White House of engaging in a “clear violation of the law.” The “pocket” rescission flouts Congress because it is so close to the end of the fiscal year that concludes Sept. 30 that it will take effect without the approval of lawmakers, who must do so for normal rescissions within 45 days, as they did earlier this year.

The Government Accountability Office “has concluded that this type of rescission is unlawful and not permitted by the Impoundment Control Act,” Collins said in a statement. “Article I of the Constitution makes clear that Congress has the responsibility for the power of the purse. Any effort to rescind appropriated funds without congressional approval is a clear violation of the law.”

Rather than an “attempt to undermine the law,” Collins continued, the administration should propose ways to “reduce excessive spending” through the ongoing annual appropriations process of crafting a yearlong budget.

The administration’s legal justification for the clawback, which includes $3.2 billion for the U.S. Agency for International Development and $1.7 billion for State Department programs, is that the money was for “wasteful foreign assistance programs” and international groups that “do not support major U.S. policies or priorities or have been operating contrary to American interests for many years.”

Democrats poured similar criticism on the decision by Trump, who has repeatedly sought to slash spending previously passed by Congress that it deemed wasteful or unaligned with the president’s agenda. Democratic leaders warned that it raised the likelihood that their members could withhold crucial votes that will be needed to fund the government beyond Sept. 30.

SENATE PASSES TRUMP’S DOGE CUTS AFTER MARATHON VOTING SESSION

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said Trump and congressional Republicans were “hellbent on rejecting bipartisanship and ‘going it alone’ this fall.” He and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) said they continue to seek a meeting with Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD).

“If Republicans are insistent on going it alone, Democrats won’t be party to their destruction,” Schumer said in a statement.

David Sivak and Naomi Lim contributed to this report.