The Trump Administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) identified billions in wasteful government spending that Congress can now formally rein in through a powerful legislative tool known as rescissions.
This presents a crucial opportunity for Congress to deliver wins for Americans who want to put our country back on a path towards fiscal sustainability by removing the waste, fraud, and abuse that DOGE has found.
The Expedited Rescissions Process
A rescission is a cancellation of budget authority from Congress that has not yet been obligated by a federal agency. Put simply, rescissions allow Congress to claw back money that was previously approved for agencies but has not yet been spent.
The rescissions process begins when the President proposes rescissions in a special message to Congress. This starts a chain of events that allow Congress to eliminate spending through an expedited process.
The Impoundment Control Act establishes that a rescission bill bypasses the Senate filibuster and requires only a simple majority in both chambers. It is also privileged in the Senate, with debate limited to 10 hours. This expedited process is available for 45 days of continuous session after Congress received the rescissions message.
A rescission bill does not need to include all of the President’s proposed rescissions, but it cannot include anything outside of the scope of the message. One message can result in multiple bills, each focusing on different parts of the President’s special message.
What is President Trump Rescinding?
President Trump’s proposed rescissions package includes $9.4 billion of spending that Congress can and should revoke. The President has proposed rescinding $8.3 billion of wasteful and weaponized foreign aid programs as well as $1.1 billion from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting that subsidizes partisan left-wing “news” programming. These rescissions allow Congress to remove the waste, fraud, and abuse that DOGE has found and root out biases in these programs.
Reform Through Rescissions
Congress should seize this opportunity and partner with President Trump to deliver reductions of reckless government spending. While the rescissions request is modest compared to the size of the federal budget, passing it would signal that Washington recognizes the cost of excessive deficit spending. If Congress can’t agree on these modest discretionary spending reductions, it will be even harder to address the runaway growth of mandatory programs.
