Biden handed an open-borders NGO $2 billion while the federal government sued it for child sexual abuse inside its shelters.
That same network of taxpayer-funded groups was still sitting on hundreds of millions in unspent federal cash.
What Trump just pulled off with days left in the fiscal year is something Democrats never saw coming.
Russ Vought Just Killed $810 Million in Illegal Immigrant and DEI Funding
President Trump just executed only the second pocket rescission in nearly 50 years, notifying Speaker Mike Johnson that $810 million in congressionally appropriated spending across seven federal agencies and 11 separate funding pools was gone.
It works by timing the proposal so close to the September 30 fiscal year end that Congress cannot complete its 45-day review before the funds expire.
By the time Democrats finish screaming, the money will be gone.
HHS funneled $567 million – the single largest target – to illegal alien social services through a network of non-governmental organizations. The White House says the funding is no longer needed because illegal border crossings have nearly disappeared under Trump's watch.
One of the groups pulling from that pool was Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, which received $2.1 million. Its CEO, Krish Vignarajah, built her public profile as a frequent MSNBC presence pushing for open borders. She also served as Michelle Obama's policy director.
Another organization in the same network, Southwest Key Programs, pulled in more than $2 billion from the Biden-Harris administration to house unaccompanied alien children.
A federal lawsuit accused Southwest Key employees of sexually abusing and harassing children in their facilities. The Trump administration has stopped all placements at Southwest Key facilities.
The rest of the package strips out $70 million in fellowships for foreign academics – some of it flowing to transgender-focused projects. Another $56 million disappears from a HUD housing counseling program that routed money to Democrat-linked racial advocacy groups including UnidosUS and the National Urban League.
A Department of Education migrant student program loses $25 million – money that went to groups allegedly telling participants to stay away from law enforcement.
The Justice Department's Community Relations Service and a DHS cultural orientation and legal advice program each lose $15 million more.
Trump also pulled $9 million from the Treasury's Tropical Forest and Coral Reef Conservation program, which offered debt forgiveness to foreign governments in exchange for climate change commitments.
Susan Collins Joins Democrats as the Impoundment Control Act Clock Runs Out
The howling from Washington came fast.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer accused the administration of illegally stripping nearly $1 billion in critical funding. Sen. Patty Murray called it theft from the American people and said Russ Vought was telling Congress its votes don't count.
Then Susan Collins weighed in.
The Republican who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee said the package arrived "without warning or consultation," accused OMB of intentionally withholding the funds for months to execute the cancellation, and pledged to work with her colleagues to address what she called illegal actions.
Her colleagues now include Chuck Schumer.
The Government Accountability Office has sided with that coalition – the GAO says pocket rescissions amount to an unlawful line-item veto, a power the Supreme Court struck down in 1998.
OMB Director Russ Vought has consistently argued the Impoundment Control Act does not forbid rescinding funds at fiscal year's end.
Trump used the same pocket rescission tool last year to cancel nearly $5 billion in foreign aid. The Court ruled 6-3 to let it proceed, holding that his foreign affairs authority outweighed the procedural objection.
The House is out of session through the November elections. The fiscal year closes in days. Any lawsuit filed now chases money that will no longer exist.
Trump built the legal precedent in 2025. He used the fiscal calendar as a weapon this week – targeting programs that existed to serve people who were never supposed to be in this country in the first place.
The White House called it cutting "wasteful and harmful government spending that does not benefit American citizens."
The open-borders pipeline Biden built – staffed by Democrat operatives, shielded by congressional appropriators, and accused of tolerating child abuse – just ran dry.
Sources:
- Steven Nelson, "Trump cancels nearly $1B in funding for illegal immigrants and race-focused programs in new 'pocket' rescission," New York Post, September 25, 2026.
- "Trump Cancels $810M in Federal Spending Via Pocket Rescission Move," Fox News, September 26, 2026.
- "Trump Invokes Rare Authority To Cancel Nearly $1,000,000,000 in Congressionally Approved Spending," The Daily Caller, September 26, 2026.
- "President Trump Takes Historic Action to Eliminate Wasteful and Harmful Spending," White House, September 25, 2026.
- "It's a Pipeline: Experts Reveal How Taxpayer-Funded NGOs Facilitated Human Trafficking, Profited from Biden-Harris Border Crisis," House Committee on Homeland Security, July 17, 2025.