Republicans Block Merkley’s Bill to Eliminate Pocket Rescissions After the Trump Administration Again Illegally Claws Back Funds Without Consent from Congress

Republicans Block Merkley’s Bill to Eliminate Pocket Rescissions After the Trump Administration Again Illegally Claws Back Funds Without Consent from Congress September 30, 2026 WASHINGTON, D.C. – After the Trump Administration issued another illegal pocket rescission late Friday night , U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, took to the Senate floor to pass his bill, which would eliminate any future pocket rescissions and would nullify the newest illegal cancelation of Congressionally appropriated funds that the administration is currently putting into effect. Republicans blocked the bill. In January, Merkley offered an amendment to codify a permanent ban on pocket rescissions by prohibiting the President from sending Congress a “special message” under the Impoundment Control Act within 90 days of the expiration of the funds proposed for rescission. Republicans blocked it. In November 2025, Merkley filed this amendment to the continuing resolution legislation that ended the shutdown. Merkley made a motion to call up this amendment; that vote failed on a party-line vote, and the Republicans blocked consideration of the amendment. Republicans have also blocked Merkley’s amendment three separate times when considering funding bills in the Senate Appropriations Committee. On Tuesday, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) reaffirmed that the Impoundment Control Act does now allow for the President to issue a pocket rescission on expiring funding. Merkley’s remarks, as prepared for delivery, are below. M. President: Laws are not suggestions, the Constitutional is not optional, and the President is not a king. That was the Founders’ vision for our democratic republic. But, on Friday, President Trump swung a wrecking ball at the Founder’s vision. He and Russ Vought, Director of the White House Office of Management and Budget and the architect of Project 2025, notified Congress in the dark of night that they seek to cancel nearly $1 billion in programs authorized and funded by Congress. Let’s be clear: cancelling the resources for these programs is illegal and unconstitutional. Illegal because this funding is the law – passed by Congress and signed into law by the President, himself. And unconstitutional because the Constitution’s separation of powers gives the ‘power of the purse’ to Congress, not the President. We know that for sure because in 1996, Congress tried to give the President the power to cancel specific programs in large spending bills. They called it the “line-item veto”. But, in 1998, the Supreme Court struck down the line-item veto as unconstitutional because it violated the Constitution’s separation of powers. And, yesterday, the independent, non-partisan Government Accountability Office reaffirmed that Trump’s pocket recissions are illegal, writing, quote: “GAO has previously concluded that the [Impoundment Control Act] does not permit the withholding of funds past their date of expiration. The plain language of the ICA provides that amounts proposed for rescission must be made available for obligation unless Congress completes action on a bill rescinding them. The legislative history of the ICA, Supreme Court precedent, and the overarching constitutional framework also compel this conclusion. Therefore, the rescission proposals contained in the President’s September 25, 2026, special message to Congress do not permit the President to withhold the appropriations beyond the end of fiscal year 2026.” In other words, it is Congress’ job to design, authorize, and fund these programs, and it is the Executive’s job – that is, the President’s job – to implement these programs. This assignment of responsibilities is designed to ensure that the government serves the people. In a democratic republic, the people’s representatives in Congress — from all regions of the country, from all walks of life debate and negotiate and legislate program and spending decisions so that the federal government serves the needs of the entire nation. We don’t just deliver programs for red states when Republicans are in the majority or just deliver programs for blue states when Democrats are in the majority, we deliver programs for all of the United States no matter who is in the majority. But, in an authoritarian strongman state, the President alone decides which programs to fund, often to reward his allies and punish his opponents. In these strongman states, there is no separation of powers. Instead, there is only one authority. Call him a king. Call him a czar. Call him an emperor or a dictator or a tyrant. No matter what you call him, that is not government by and for the people. Last year, Trump seized these powers of a king when he illegally canceled nearly $5 billion in programs authorized and funded by Congress. He has done this using a tool called a “rescission.” Under the 1974 Impoundment Control Act, the President can request that Congress rescind—or cancel—funding