But this isn’t really spending cuts, so OMB

quote:

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Democrats warn Trump plans to kill $3.2B in Hill-approved foreign aid

Top appropriators say the White House wants to use billions of dollars to shutter USAID. The rest would go unspent.
Jennifer Scholtes
JENNIFER SCHOLTES
09/22/2026, 3:55PM ET

Top Democrats are slamming the Trump administration for redirecting billions of dollars in foreign aid in the final days of the fiscal year and letting millions more expire.

Sens. Patty Murray of Washington and Brian Schatz of Hawaii — the Senate’s top Democratic appropriator and the top Democrat on the panel that funds the State Department — warned Tuesday that the administration plans to use $2.5 billion to cover “closeout costs” for the U.S. Agency for International Development, which the White House has worked to dismantle throughout President Donald Trump’s second term.



That includes $1.3 billion Congress appropriated for global health programs, plus $1.2 billion for development assistance.

The two senators also cautioned that the Trump administration is prepared to let another $725 million expire next week, rather than spend it before the fiscal year ends Sept. 30. That would include $115 million to counter the international drug trade and prevent human trafficking; $310 million in assistance in Europe and Eurasia to counter Russia; and $300 million for economic growth programs that invest in secure supply chains and promote American competitiveness.

Congress “did not hand Trump a checkbook to spend on whatever he pleases while blocking funding for everything else,” Murray and Schatz said in a joint statement, urging Republican lawmakers to join them in demanding that the administration use those dollars “as Congress intended” before they expire next week.

The White House did not respond to requests for comment.

While GOP lawmakers did not immediately comment on reported efforts to divert USAID funding, many Republicans have challenged the administration’s moves this year in challenging the bounds of Congress’ power to stipulate how federal dollars are spent.

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