Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins and Democratic appropriators have denounced the pocket rescission move as illegal.
Posted by The Lawfare Podcast, Checked
- Sources
- 4 support2 context
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 90%
The Lawfare PodcastOct 8, 2026
Collins, the Senate Appropriations chair, publicly called the September 2026 pocket rescission illegal, and multiple sources report that top appropriators of both parties denounced it as illegal, as of the 2026-10-08 posting date. The claim's omission of Collins's Republican affiliation is a faithful paraphrase, and the extraction's 'pocket rescission' referent is resolved from the post's own topic.
This claim is about the present, so it is judged as of the day it was checked.
What was said
… It's the second time the Trump administration has used the maneuver, after the Supreme Court let the pockery set about 4 billion dollars in foreign assistance funds go forward last year. Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins, a fellow Republican with President Trump, and Democratic appropriators have denounced the move as illegal. The Government Accountability Office has agreed, and the seven states, among other plaintiffs, have already sued over it. …
The Lawfare Podcast · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Supports. Collins's statement after the move said 'any effort to rescind appropriated funds without congressional approval is a clear violation of the law,' and Politico and Roll Call both report her calling the move illegal.[2][3][4]
Supports. Roll Call and the Union Bulletin report that top appropriators of both parties immediately denounced the $810 million pocket rescission as illegal.[4][5]
Context. Collins's 2025 call that the earlier $4.9 billion pocket rescission was illegal is consistent with her position but concerns a different rescission.[1]
Context. The Government Accountability Office also reportedly concluded the pocket rescission was illegal, which the claim does not depend on.[2][6]
Sources
6 sources: 1 fact-checker, 1 primary, 1 tier 2, 3 not rated
- 1Trump cancels $4.9 billion in foreign aid, escalating ...reuters.com · fact-checker · cited for: context
- 2Appropriators Push Back on Pocket Rescissionwashington.edu · primary source · cited for: supports, context
- 3Trump cancels $1B in federal spending in latest challenge ... - Politicopolitico.com · tier 2 · cited for: supports
- 4White House cancels health, education funds approved by Congressrollcall.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 5Appropriators seek ways to curb Trump's spending ...union-bulletin.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 6Inside (the Beltway) Scoopfaseb.org · not rated · cited for: context
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post
Related claims
- The Government Accountability Office has agreed that the pocket rescission move is illegal.True
- The Trump administration is using the rescission process to refuse expenditures that Congress has directed.True
- Susan Collins serves as the chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations Committee.True
- Seven states have sued over the Trump administration's pocket rescission move.True
- The Trump administration performed a pocket rescission of $800 million across multiple programs.True