Russ Vought is Donald Trump's budget director and the most dangerous person you've never heard of. He helped write Project 2025, and he has spent years arguing that a president should be free to ignore spending laws he doesn't like.
Now he's doing exactly that.
Last night, with no vote and no debate, Trump canceled nearly $1 billion that Congress passed and he had previously signed into law.
The trick is called a "pocket rescission."
The White House sits on money for months, then sends Congress a cancellation request so late in the fiscal year that the funds simply expire on September 30.
Last year they used the same move to wipe out $4.9 billion.
I sit on the House Appropriations Committee. Under the Constitution, Congress decides how taxpayer dollars are spent. Republicans and Democrats negotiated these bills in good faith.
If a president can erase any spending law by running out the clock, the power of the purse means nothing.
I'll keep fighting to restore these funds and close this loophole for good. Congress writes the budget, and it's time more of my Republican colleagues stood up and said so.
politico.com/news/2026/09/25…