Congress
Justice Department asks Supreme Court to allow Trump to withhold foreign aid
The Trump administration is asking the Supreme Court to allow the president to withhold billions of dollars in congressionally appropriated foreign aid before the fiscal year ends on Sept. 30.
The Justice Department filed an emergency appeal with the high court Tuesday, asking the justices to pause a federal district judge’s order that requires the administration to come up with a plan to lay out the money by the deadline next month.
Solicitor General John Sauer argued in the new filing that groups representing aid contractors have no legal basis to force such spending and that it’s up to Congress to challenge executive branch spending shortfalls under a 1974 law, the Impoundment Control Act.
“Congress did not upset the delicate interbranch balance by allowing for unlimited, unconstrained private suits,” Sauer wrote. “Any lingering dispute about the proper disposition of funds that the President seeks to rescind shortly before they expire should be left to the political branches, not effectively prejudged by the district court.”
While Sauer’s submission is framed as an argument to defer to Congress, he also makes clear that the administration believes Trump has authority to engage in so-called pocket recissions that would occur so late in the fiscal year that it would be impractical for Congress to reverse them.
It’s the latest escalation in Trump’s effort to wrest the power of the purse from Congress, one that has alarmed lower courts and rankled even some Republicans in Congress.
Trump and his budget architect Russell Vought have long sought to challenge the 1974 law, which establishes strict procedures when the president intends to cancel spending authorized by Congress. Though the president can briefly pause some spending, he must get congressional permission to cancel it altogether through a process known as “rescission.”
Earlier this month, a three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled, 2-1, that only Congress’ comptroller general — the leader of the Government Accountability Office — has the power to challenge allegedly unlawful impoundments by the president. Groups that rely on foreign aid funding and claim the right to sue over withheld grants are asking the full bench of the D.C. Circuit to reverse that conclusion, but the full court has not yet acted.
For now, an earlier order from U.S. District Judge Amir Ali in favor of the aid groups remains in effect. Ali, a Biden appointee, mandated formal obligation of the funds by the end of September. That order is presently due to be set aside unless the full D.C. Circuit steps in — but the Trump administration seems eager to get the issue in front of the Supreme Court quickly.
Sauer asked the justices to rule by Sept. 2 or to put in place a temporary order that the government need not comply with Ali’s directive.
An official with one of the groups challenging the funding holdbacks, the AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition, said it wasn’t surprising that the administration is rushing the dispute to the high court.
“Time and again, this administration has shown their disdain for foreign assistance and a disregard for people’s lives in the United States and around the world. But even more broadly and dangerously, this administration’s actions further erodes Congress’s role and responsibility as an equal branch of government,” the coalition’s executive director, Mitchell Warren, said in a statement. “The question being put to SCOTUS is whether they will be complicit in further eroding the constitutional commitment to checks and balance.”
Carmen Paun contributed to this report.
Congress
White House declares $4.9B in foreign aid unilaterally canceled in end-run around Congress’ funding power
The White House budget office said Friday morning that President Donald Trump has canceled $4.9 billion in foreign aid by using a so-called pocket rescission — furthering the administration’s assault on Congress’ funding prerogatives.
The move raises tensions on Capitol Hill as lawmakers face an Oct. 1 deadline to avoid a government shutdown. Many lawmakers from both parties, as well as Congress’ top watchdog, view the maneuver as an illegal end-run around their “power of the purse.”
The Trump administration boldly embraced the strategy on Friday. “Congress can choose to vote to rescind or continue the funds — it doesn’t matter,” an official from the White House budget office said in a statement. “This approach is rare but not unprecedented.”
The White House is allowed to send Congress a clawbacks request and then withhold the cash for 45 days while lawmakers consider whether to approve, reject or ignore the proposal. Because there are less than 45 days left before the end of the fiscal year, Trump’s top budget officials — led by budget chief Russ Vought — argue that they can employ the so-called pocket rescission to withhold the funding until it lapses at month’s end, ensuring its cancellation regardless of what Congress decides.
The pocket rescission request was first reported by the New York Post.
Meredith Lee Hill contributed to this report.
Two top Justice Department officials are expected to testify before the House Judiciary Committee in the coming weeks amid fallout over the administration’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case, according to two people granted anonymity to share scheduling information not yet public.
FBI director Kash Patel is set to give testimony Sept. 17, with attorney general Pam Bondi on tap to appear Oct. 9. Both have been invited as part of the Judiciary Committee’s general oversight work, and each will have an opportunity to outline some of the pieces of a crime bill President Donald Trump wants Hill Republicans to produce in the coming months.
But the hearings will likely focus most heavily on how the DOJ has maneuvered around the release of files related to the late, convicted sex offender.
Senior Republicans have continued over the August recess to press the Trump administration to unseal more Epstein documents after a mutiny over their release caused chaos in the GOP-controlled House, running the chamber aground before lawmakers left town early in late July.
DOJ started transmitting some of the so-called Epstein files last week in compliance with a subpoena from the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. And Alex Acosta, President Donald Trump’s former labor secretary who singed off on Epstein’s previous plea deal as a then-U.S. attorney in Florida, will separately sit for a transcribed interview with the Oversight panel Sept. 19.
However, lawmakers otherwise have so far received scant new information during the month-long district work period, with members of both parties promising to continue to press the issue when the House is set to return to session next week.
Bondi has, in particular, been the subject of Republican consternation over allegedly withholding documents she at one point promised to reveal.
Baseball star Mark Teixeira launched a campaign to fill an open Texas House seat Thursday, the latest celebrity athlete to dive into politics.
Teixeira is running as a Republican in a safe red seat being vacated by GOP Rep. Chip Roy. And he’s already appealing to President Donald Trump in search of a home run on the campaign trail.
“As a lifelong conservative who loves this country, I’m running for Congress to fight for the principles that make Texas and America great,” he wrote in a post on X. “It takes teamwork to win — I’m ready to help defend President Trump’s America First agenda, Texas families, and individual liberty.”
Teixeira was a superstar on the diamond, going yard 409 times in a career that spanned 14 seasons and saw him play for four big league outfits, including the Texas Rangers and New York Yankees. He last played in the 2016 season.
He reached baseball immortality when the Yankees won the World Series in 2009. He was included on the 2022 Hall of Fame ballot but failed to get enough votes from sportswriters to either get elected to the Hall or return to the ballot in future years.
Should he win the seat, he could be a major boon for Republicans in the Congressional Baseball Game, the annual charity event that pits Democrats against Republicans. The GOP has dominated the game in recent years, a gap that a former major leaguer would likely only widen.
Teixeira is leaning into his baseball bona fides.
“In Congress, he’ll bring the same grit, preparation, and competitive spirit that made him a champion in Major League Baseball to fight for Texas—and win,” reads his campaign website.
Roy, a Freedom Caucus member who has served in the House since 2019, is leaving Congress to run for the Texas attorney general post.
- America’s once-powerful doctors are struggling to remain relevant in Trump’s Washington
- Appeals court rules against Trump tariffs, but Supreme Court appeal may soon follow
- A teenager died by suicide after confiding in ChatGPT. That should be a wake-up call.
- After the Annunciation school shooting, the gun lobby is counting on our doing nothing
- The Trump administration reportedly sought to ‘soft launch’ a new election-watching tool
- Texas moves a step closer to clearing way for civil lawsuits against abortion pill providers
- White House declares $4.9B in foreign aid unilaterally canceled in end-run around Congress’ funding power
- Social Security’s chief data officer resigns, cites ‘culture of panic and dread’
- Public health in ‘uncharted waters’ amid CDC tumult
- Who is Jim O’Neill, Trump’s new CDC director
-
Uncategorized10 months ago
Bob Good to step down as Freedom Caucus chair this week
-
The Josh Fourrier Show10 months agoDOOMSDAY: Trump won, now what?
-
Politics10 months agoWhat 7 political experts will be watching at Tuesday’s debate
-
Politics10 months agoHow Republicans could foil Harris’ Supreme Court plans if she’s elected
-
Politics6 months agoFormer ‘Squad’ members launching ‘Bowman and Bush’ YouTube show
-
Economy10 months ago
Fed moves to protect weakening job market with bold rate cut
-
The Dictatorship6 months agoPete Hegseth’s tenure at the Pentagon goes from bad to worse
-
Politics10 months agoRFK Jr.’s bid to take himself off swing state ballots may scramble mail-in voting