Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine) told reporters appropriators are looking at blocking “pocket rescissions” in the next spending package after President Donald Trump notified Congress he was clawing back about $810 million in approved funds, the Washington Examiner reported. Collins said the move came “without warning or consultation” and called it OMB’s latest attempt to undermine Congress’s power of the purse. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) labeled pocket rescissions “sneaky and designed to go around Congress.”

A pocket rescission is a maneuver in which a president asks Congress to cancel funds near fiscal-year end so money expires before the 45-day review window. The package, described across Examiner coverage as targeting noncitizen services, DEI initiatives, education, and health research — including housing-counseling dollars — drew cheers from some House conservatives and lawsuits from states and civil-rights groups. The Hill has tracked GOP unease alongside Democratic claims of illegal impoundment. Sen. John Merkley’s earlier bill to eliminate pocket rescissions was blocked; no Collins ban text has filed yet.

For local housing counselors and grant recipients, the stake is whether appropriated dollars actually arrive. Overnight, the carry status is unchanged: partial court action and process fights, not a nationwide TRO, enacted ban, or White House withdrawal. Majority Leader John Thune said courts will likely decide legality. Watch Appropriations markup language, multi-state dockets, and whether ban text attaches to year-end funding.

What we know:
Trump clawed back roughly $810 million via pocket rescission; Collins and Murkowski want limits; Merkley’s ban bill was blocked earlier; suits continue.
What we don’t:
Whether ban language reaches a 60-vote Senate bill, which specific accounts stay frozen, or how courts will rule on Impoundment Control Act claims.