JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
Last night, the White House informed Congress that it plans to cut almost $5 billion that lawmakers had already approved for foreign aid. The White House used a rare maneuver called a pocket rescission. That's when the government's request comes so late that Congress doesn't have enough time to vote on it before the end of the fiscal year. NPR's Gabrielle Emanuel joins me now. Welcome.
GABRIELLE EMANUEL, BYLINE: Hi there.
SUMMERS: Hi. So this is $5 billion that the administration wants to effectively cancel. It's money that was already appropriated by Congress. Tell us, what was the money meant for?
EMANUEL: What we know is the money was going for things like U.N. Peacekeepers and development assistance. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said programs being canceled also include LGBTQ awareness efforts. But people who do development and humanitarian aid say they do not know the specific programs that would be cut. But what we do know is it's a lot of money in the aid world, and it would have a big impact.
SUMMERS: Well, the Trump administration has already cut billions in foreign aid this year, including dismantling the United States Agency for International Development, or USAID. Tell us where these cuts fit into the picture.
EMANUEL: Well, it is all part of the administration's ongoing effort to dramatically change the face and footprint of U.S. foreign aid, but it is also part of a battle over who controls the money in Washington. I spoke with Mitchell Warren, executive director of AVAC. They're an HIV prevention group that sued the administration earlier this year to release appropriated funds. He says this latest move isn't really about foreign aid.
MITCHELL WARREN: This is not about foreign assistance or about HIV and AIDS or any aspect of global health. This is fundamentally about who controls the federal budget.
EMANUEL: And constitutionally, it is very clear that Congress holds the power of the purse. But this administration has been really pushing the bounds of this balance of power.
SUMMERS: Now, last month, we had a really similar situation. There was a rescission package from the White House that was requesting the clawback of billions of dollars in foreign aid funds that had already been approved by lawmakers. But there's something different about this time, right?
EMANUEL: That's right. So last month, lawmakers had the required 45 days to consider the request. They voted on it and approved it. The key difference here is the timing. This rescission is happening so close to the end of the fiscal year, when the funds are scheduled to expire, that Congress doesn't have enough time to have a final say. The U.S. Government Accountability Office says these pocket rescissions are illegal since the president does not hold the power of the purse.
SUMMERS: What have lawmakers had to say about this?
EMANUEL: Well, there's been bipartisan frustration at the Trump administration for this move. Republican Senator Susan Collins, for example, called this tactic, quote, "a clear violation of the law." Collins is the chairwoman of the Appropriations Committee, and she laid out that there's a standard way to do rescissions and this isn't it.
SUMMERS: Is the administration concerned at all that this pocket rescission won't go through?
EMANUEL: Yes. A White House official who spoke to reporters on the condition of anonymity today said they expect there could be litigation in court around this, and they feel well prepared to defend the use of a pocket rescission.
SUMMERS: NPR's Gabrielle Emanuel, thank you.
EMANUEL: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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