Durbin: President Trump’s Pocket Rescission Is “An Illegal Power Grab”

Durbin: President Trump's Pocket Rescission Is "An Illegal Power Grab"

In his speech on the Senate floor, Durbin condemned President Trump's illegal pocket rescission, which will rescind $810 million in congressionally-appropriated funding to education programs, health research, immigration services, and foreign aid

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today delivered a speech on the Senate floor criticizing the Trump Administration's illegal move to rescind $810 million for federal programs, cutting off bipartisan funding Congress has allocated for education programs, health research, assistance for minority-owned businesses, immigration services, and support to foreign countries. This pocket rescission by the President is a clear violation of the Constitution, which explicitly gives Congress the power to determine how federal funds are spent.

While the President can make a rescission request, Congress must approve that rescission with a simple majority vote in each chamber. The law requires that, if Congress does not pass a bill rescinding the funding within 45 days, the President must release the withheld funds. With only a few days left in the fiscal year, President Trump is unlawfully using a pocket rescission, denying Congress the time or ability to reject the rescission request in a move that the Government Accountability Office has stated is illegal.

Durbin began his remarks by calling out President Trump for this illegal power grab.

"On Friday night, the Trump Administration announced that the President had unilaterally rescinded nearly $1 billion in funds that Congress had approved for spending on a bipartisan basis. This funding was meant for education programs, health research, assistance for businesses, immigration services, and support to other countries," Durbin began.

"This move is an illegal power grab by the Trump Administration-plain and simple," Durbin said.

President Trump has repeatedly used pocket rescissions to rip federal funding from critical programs, including support for foreign aid and public broadcasting. Despite uproar from Americans, Republicans have publicly supported the President's illegal claw back of funding.

"Last year, President Trump canceled $4.9 billion in foreign aid with the so-called 'pocket rescission' maneuver. Earlier in 2025, my Republican colleagues supported President Trump's rescission request that clawed back $9 billion in foreign aid and public broadcasting funding," Durbin said.

Democrats pushed for protections from pocket rescissions to be included in the Continuing Resolution that passed Congress earlier this year, but Republicans refused to include it-choosing to appease President Trump out of fear of retribution.

"Democrats fought for pocket rescission protection in the Continuing Resolution that we passed earlier this year to prevent the White House from doing exactly what they've done. Not surprisingly, Republicans in the Senate and the House refused to stand for the law for fear that they would anger their President. My colleagues on the other side of the aisle might express some concern now about the items that have been cut by the Administration, but where were they this summer when they had a chance to fix it?" Durbin said.

Durbin concluded his speech, reprimanding President Trump for prioritizing his vanity projects over supporting federal programs that support the American people.

"For Donald Trump, billion-dollar ballrooms are full speed ahead. Money for schools-cut. Vanity projects like the Trump Golden Arch are a priority, but medial research is cut. Taxpayer funded political ads of the wartime President are a must. Medical care for children-cut," Durbin said.

"Over the past 20 months, Republicans have continuously bent the knee, kissed the ring, and handed Donald Trump more power and authority on a silver platter. Now the question is whether they will finally find their collective backbone and do something about this illegal executive maneuver," Durbin concluded his remarks.

Video of Durbin's remarks on the Senate floor is available here.

Audio of Durbin's remarks on the Senate floor is available here.

Footage of Durbin's remarks on the Senate floor is available here for TV Stations.

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