A federal watchdog agency has reaffirmed that a method used by a former president to cancel hundreds of millions in allocated federal funds violated longstanding congressional laws. The Government Accountability Office cited the Impoundment Control Act of 1974, arguing that the unilateral move—referred to as a "pocket rescission"—did not comply with legal requirements for adjusting budget allocations. Legal experts have previously questioned the practice, which bypasses standard congressional review processes. The latest ruling underscores ongoing debates over executive authority in financial matters.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) reasserted on Tuesday that President Trump’s use of a “pocket rescission” to cancel $810 million in federal funding was unlawful. The letter by the government watchdog's lead attorney, Edda Emmanuelli Perez, outlined under the Impoundment Control Act of 1974 (ICA), “the rescission proposals contained in the President’s September 25,...
