Trump Blocks $5 Billion Foreign Aid, Raising Shutdown Risk

President Trump has invoked a rare and controversial budget maneuver known as a "pocket rescission" to withhold nearly $5 billion in foreign aid funding that Congress had already approved. This move primarily affects the U.S. State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), including significant cuts to global peacekeeping, food security programs, and U.S. treaty dues to the United Nations. Critics from both parties, including Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, have condemned the action as an illegal bypass of Congress's power of the purse and warned it threatens bipartisan budget negotiations, increasing the risk of a government shutdown. The tactic, last used in the late 1970s, allows the president to cancel funds too late in the fiscal year for Congress to respond, effectively causing the funds to lapse without approval. While the White House defends the approach as rare but not unprecedented, lawmakers argue it undermines the appropriations process and violates the Impoundment Control Act. President Trump justified the move by citing historical precedent set by President Jimmy Carter but has nonetheless faced bipartisan backlash for what critics call an abuse of executive power.