John,

I wanted to make sure you saw Deborah’s email from yesterday. Last night the Senate voted to proceed on a bill that would rescind $9 billion of congressionally approved funds for critical global development programs and public broadcasting, including NPR and PBS.¹ They needed Vice President Vance to break another tie on the Senate floor, and after debating amendments today they hope to pass this package by this evening—with the House likely to take up the bill shortly after.

Under the Impoundment Control Act of 1974 (ICA), Congress can approve a president's request to cut previously approved appropriations for programs. If Congress approves Trump’s request, it will be the first rescission request approved since FY1999 and the largest request approved in four decades.

What makes this request unusual is that it comes after the Trump administration has already blocked or withheld an estimated $425 billion in total for local communities.² Congressional approval of this recissions package would certainly embolden the administration to continue clawing back congressionally appropriated funds, meaning that any bipartisan agreements made during the appropriations process aren’t as good as the paper they’re written on.

Send a message to the House and Senate urging them to prioritize communities, stand up for Congress’ power of the purse, and reject the rescissions package.

For example, the U.S. Department of Education recently announced that it was withholding nearly $7 billion in FY2025 public education and children’s program funding, impacting students, educators, and families in every state and school district across the country after Congress approved, and President Trump signed into law, FY2025 funding for students and classrooms along with after-school and summer programs.³

We cannot afford to have critical funding gutted—whether it’s done through the illegal clawing back of appropriated funds, or through the recissions process.

Join us in calling on Congress to reject this rescissions package and maintain the congressionally approved funding.

Thank you for all you do,

Meredith Dodson
Senior Director of Public Policy, CHN Action

¹ Senate votes to move ahead on funding clawback package
² Trump’s Unprecedented Funding Freeze Hits Communities Across America
³ Trump Withholds Nearly $7 Billion for Schools, With Little Explanation

-- DEBORAH'S EMAIL --

John,

As if passing the Big Brutal Bill wasn’t enough, now Republicans in Congress are preparing to do even more of Trump’s bidding by passing a partisan rescissions bill that would claw back $9 billion of Congressionally appropriated funds for global development programs and public broadcasting—including NPR and PBS.¹

This is an insidious attack on Congressionally approved funding for communities, undermining the bipartisan appropriations process and paving the way for further cuts to essential programs at a time when many in local communities are struggling to meet the costs of basic needs.

A vote for the rescissions package will “rubber stamp” the administration’s moves to block or withhold funding for local communities across the country and around the world without regard for Congress’s constitutional power of the purse. While budget law allows for a simple majority in the Senate to approve reductions of already appropriated funding, it should not be used after the fact to provide cover for the Trump administration’s unilateral seizure of power. Nor should it be used to cut urgently needed funds.

Many organizations in communities across the country are either currently feeling the impact of federal funding being cut off or would be decimated by the Trump administration withholding funds and/or future rescission packages.

The Senate will vote on this legislation this week, and they need to hear from you now. Send a message to your Senators telling them to take back the power of the purse and protect Congressionally-approved funding for communities.

Congress serves a constitutionally mandated role in passing funding bills, and a vote for the rescissions package codifies the administration’s unprecedented moves to block funding already enacted into law. If passed, this paves the way for future moves to withdraw much-needed resources for local communities—especially dangerous given how the Trump administration is already withholding funding for key programs. Many have sounded the alarm that passing this rescissions package in a fast-tracked, partisan process will be a “poison pill” for future appropriations bills, as it sets a precedent that bipartisan final funding agreements can be overridden with just 51 votes in the Senate.

By going down this path, Congress risks irreparable damage to the regular appropriations process that requires 60 votes in the Senate (and so currently must be bipartisan).

Send a direct message to your Senators now, telling them to vote against the rescissions package and protect funding for local communities.

Thank you for all you do,

Deborah Weinstein
Executive Director, CHN Action

¹ Senate GOP plots how to move Trump’s $9.4B clawbacks request