Trump Cuts $5B in Foreign Aid Using Rare ‘Pocket Rescission’ – Not Seen Since 1977

David Gilmour Aug 29th, 2025, 6:44 am

AP Photo/Evan Vucci

President Donald Trump revived a legal maneuver — unused for nearly half a century — to cancel nearly $5 billion in foreign aid and peacekeeping funds.

The president informed Congress late Thursday that he would proceed with what is known as a “pocket rescission,” a tactic that allows a president to present a funding clawback so late in the fiscal year that Congress has little chance to stop it, according to exclusive reporting from the New York Post .

The move has not been attempted since 1977.

The aid package, originally destined for nonprofits and foreign governments, had been frozen in litigation until the D.C. Circuit Court of Appe

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