Rescissions explained: How Trump and Congress aim to claw back billions in spending

And you thought you had just figured out what “reconciliation” means in Congressional budget terms.

Here’s a new vocabulary term: rescissions.

You might not be able to spell it. But I can tell you what it does.

A “rescissions” bill “rescinds” money which Congress has already allocated, ex post facto.

For simplicity, I often describe rescissions legislation as “spending cancellations.” Congress appropriated money. Then, under a recissions bill, Congress claws back dollars it previously appropriated. It’s kind of like a reverse appropriation.

And you thought that in elementary school, there were no takebacks.

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Presidential administrations send “budget requests” to Congress. This is the opposite. An administration can send a “recissions request” to Congress, too. And that’s what Budget Director Russ Vought is doing this week.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is intent on moving fast.

“I’d like to turn it around as quickly as possible,” said Johnson. “There may be multiple rescissions packages coming and we’ll process them as quickly as we can. It’s a big priority for me.”

Congressional conservatives and Elon Musk were not pleased with the relative paucity of spending cuts in the Big, Beautiful Bill.

Musk told CBS he was “disappointed” in the legislation.

“Which increases the budget deficit, not decreases it. And it undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing,” said Musk about the hallmark of President Trump’s agenda.

By Tuesday morning, the world’s richest man incinerated the bill on X and chastised most Republicans in Congress.

Musk characterized the legislation as “a disgusting abomination.” He lectured the 215 House Republicans who voted yes, declaring “you know you did wrong.”

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DOGE initially set a goal of unearthing $2 trillion in spending cuts. It then slashed the threshold to $1 trillion. DOGE finally homed in on about $150 billion in cuts by the end of next year. And many of those cuts aren’t even in effect because Congress has the power of the purse.

That’s where Congress comes in with a potential rescissions package.

Most Republicans are appreciative of the efforts by DOGE and Musk.

“I think this is the beginning and the whole conversation in Congress is changed because of it,” said Rep. Mike Flood, R-Neb., on Fox.

But DOGE evaluated “discretionary” spending. Congress has the “discretion” to spend or not spend certain money each year. That comes through the annual appropriations process. That’s why GOPers are now using their “discretion.” They intend to unwind some of that spending with a rescission plan.

But the largest percentage of federal spending – by about two to one – is tied to entitlements like Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, plus interest on the debt. That spending is called “mandatory.” House Republicans tried to address that slightly in the Big, Beautiful Bill since it dealt with Medicaid spending. But cuts to federal departments lie in the appropriations realm and falls on the discretionary side of the ledger.

However, discretionary cuts via the Big, Beautiful Bill weren’t going to happen.

“Much of what DOGE has looked at is the discretionary spending,” said Flood. “This is far more complicated than just doing it in reconciliation.”

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And so here we are, with Republicans in Congress looking at the first major rescissions plan since 1993.

“The House Freedom Caucus strongly supports these critical rescissions, and we will support as many more rescissions packages the White House can send us in the coming weeks and months,” said the Freedom Caucus in a statement. “There is no excuse for a Republican House not to advance the first DOGE rescissions package the same week it is presented to Congress then quickly send it for passage in the Republican Senate so President Trump can sign it into law.”

The law requires the president to spend money which Congress approves. However, there are some loopholes where a President can “impound” money and not spend it.

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On CNN, Vought suggested that the Impoundment Control Act of 1974 “allows for a procedure called pocket rescissions later in the year to be able to bank some of these savings without the bill actually being passed.”

Vought signaled that President Trump would likely lean on that tool. But he wants to start with an initial rescissions request.

A recissions plan requires a simple majority to pass the House. And, believe it or not, a simple majority in the Senate. There’s no 60-vote requirement to break a filibuster. Moreover, the “motion to proceed” to start debate on a recessions package is “privileged.” That means the Senate only needs 51 votes to begin the process. Many “motions to proceed” in the Senate need 60 yeas and can be subject to a filibuster.

President Trump formally routed his recissions request to Capitol Hill on Tuesday. It aims to trim $9.4 billion dollars from public broadcasting and foreign aid programs. All of this is money which Musk targeted in his DOGE reviews. But these cuts only count if Congress approves them.

“I want make sure you take the first tranche and see if it passes,” said Vought on the targeted set of proposed spending reductions. “The wider you do in terms of a package, the harder it is to pass. And if it doesn’t pass, this is the real world. And we will lose flexibility that we have to use executive tools to find other ways to make the DOGE cuts permanent.”

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Lawmakers are starting to process the rescissions proposal. Especially since Republicans often talk a good game about slashing spending.

“We’ll see if Congress can step up to the plate,” said Rep. Chip Roy, R-Tex., noting the political consequences of not green lighting the rescissions package. “(Members will have) to go campaign on why they want to continue to fund PBS, NPR, and a whole bunch of foreign policy and foreign funding that most Americans don’t like. So you go explain it.”

Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., represents one of the most-Democratic leaning districts in the country. He worries about the PBS and NPR cuts.

“I have a great rapport with Nebraska Public Radio and TV. I think they’ve been great to work with. And so that would be one I hope they don’t put in,” said Bacon.

Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Susan Collins, R-Maine, flagged reductions to PEPFAR, short for the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.

“I consider that to be possibly the most successful public health program that has ever been used in Africa and other parts of the world. So I do not support the reduction in PEPFAR,” said Collins.

It’s unclear whether this opening bid to cut spending – minimal as it is – can make it through Congress. Lots of Republicans will sweat this. And these are just negligible cuts. Republicans extolled the work of DOGE. But if they want to eliminate spending, they have to put their vote where their favorite program is.

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We’ll know more in a few weeks whether Republicans can approve the recissions package and rescind what some characterize as wasteful spending. Otherwise, they may need to rescind those campaign promises.