**ASN NEWS USA — SPECIAL REPORT**

WASHINGTON (ASN NEWS USA) — President Donald Trump is moving to unilaterally withhold more than $800 million in federal spending that Congress has already approved — setting off a constitutional showdown over who really controls the nation’s purse.

The funds cover programs for immigration and refugee assistance, racial-minority business development, and overseas conservation. The White House said in a statement that the programs supported illegal immigration, stoked racial tensions, and promoted what it called alarmist approaches to the environment, adding that Trump is “committed to utilizing all possible tools to cut wasteful and harmful government spending.”

The administration is using a rarely deployed technique known as a “pocket rescission” — a maneuver that sidesteps Congress entirely.

But the pushback is bipartisan and blunt. Senator Susan Collins of Maine, a Republican who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, described the move as “illegal,” calling it the latest attempt by the Office of Management and Budget “to undermine Congress’s Constitutional power of the purse.”

“Any effort to rescind appropriated funds without congressional approval is a clear violation of the law,” Collins said.

This is not new territory for the White House: the Supreme Court last year declined to block Trump from using the same tactic to withhold $4.9 billion in congressionally approved foreign aid while litigation continued.

The Constitution gives Congress the power of the purse. Whether this White House respects that limit is now, once again, a question for the courts — and for voters, five weeks out from the midterms.

Stay tuned to ASN News USA for continuing coverage.

Reported by ASN News USA. Visit asnnewsusa.com or follow @ASNNewsUSA for updates.

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