A federal judge in Washington, D.C., barred the Trump administration from holding back certain counterterrorism grant funding from states that do not comply with select election security measures. Biden-appointed Judge Amir Ali of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia wrote in his opinion that the Department of Homeland…
Page B1From§Eachthe midnight edition — 29 September 2026
POWER OF THE PURSE
Trump's second pocket rescission in 50 years lands the same week two courts police two other freezes.
As it ran on the front
Two weeks ago this column was about Treasury looking into whether it could send out $5,000 checks without the appropriation Congress would normally have to pass first, on the strength of a promise that the dividend happens "100 percent" if Republicans hold the House and Senate in November. The bond market took that news badly enough that yields moved before Treasury did anything. The Republicans who would actually have to write that appropriation have not been in any hurry to introduce it.
This week the arithmetic runs the other way. On Friday the president canceled $810 million that Congress had already approved and put into law — money for unaccompanied migrant children's legal proceedings, refugee resettlement, foreign debt relief, a scattering of minority-health and small-business grants — using a pocket rescission, a maneuver that lets an appropriation expire by running out the clock instead of by anyone taking a vote on it.…
…(cont) The same week, a different withholding attempt got stopped before it could finish running the clock. A federal judge in Washington barred the Department of Homeland Security from conditioning counterterrorism grant money on whether a state complies with the administration's preferred election-security rules. The order is one sentence long in its effect: the money DHS was sitting on has to move.
By Monday, the same argument was happening in front of a different bench. A three-judge panel on the Second Circuit spent the day asking New York State why $73.5 million in federal highway money, frozen by the Department of Transportation over a dispute about commercial driver's licenses for noncitizens, is still frozen — and asking the administration's lawyers to explain, again, why it was frozen to begin with. The panel did not sound satisfied with either answer.
Run the numbers, hon. Congress votes a figure. What a state or an agency actually receives is that figure minus whatever the executive branch decides, this month, to hold back — by rescission, by condition, or by simply not releasing it and waiting to see if anyone sues. The third is still open, still being argued, and the only entry in the ledger that's moving on schedule is the interest.
“They already told you the check needs a vote, and then this administration just doesn't cash the check when the vote already happened — they call it a "rescission," which is a fancy word for a guy at the register saying the sale's off after you paid. Meanwhile the money that was supposed to build the road or fund the counterterrorism grant sits in a drawer until somebody's lawyer gets a judge to open it. Whoever's covering the gap while that lawsuit runs — the state, the county, you — that's the actual bill, and it doesn't show up until later.”
“Look, a pocket rescission isn't stealing, it's fiscal discipline — that $810 million was going to programs for people who aren't even citizens, and frankly the taxpayer deserves a Treasury Secretary willing to say no. As for the highway money, the state just needs to comply with a perfectly reasonable federal standard on commercial licenses, this isn't — okay, it is a funding freeze, but it's a freeze with a legal theory behind it. Senator Collins wanting to write a law against this proves the system's working, which — wait, why would you need a law against something that's already legal?”
Earlier in this story
- Trump demands Supreme Court award Missouri the Election Victory it just lost for a third time By The Wrecking Crew · the wee small hours edition, 28 September 2026
- National Review says only one holdout juror deserves respect; the docket says he's not it. By Mitch · the wee small hours edition, 28 September 2026
- The four-day clock reposts CNN's Dominion suit and New Left Review's dead historian's letters, unconcerned who's publishing. By Sal · the wee small hours edition, 28 September 2026
- Holdout juror provided zero evidence during deliberations, his lawyer says he had a mountain of it. By Mitch · the midnight edition, 28 September 2026
- CNN reposts 'the 2024 presidential alternative many voters will want' every four days, unconcerned who's president. By Sal · the midnight edition, 28 September 2026
- Missouri asks Supreme Court to let it rig its map, gets no for the third time in a row By The Wrecking Crew · the midnight edition, 28 September 2026
The receipts
Sen. Blumenthal: the Secret Service diverted $1.17 billion in appropriated funds toward the ballroom project Sen. Blumenthal, official release
Collins exploring pocket rescissions ban after Trump cancels $810 million in federal spendingSenate appropriators are exploring a ban on pocket rescissions as part of the next spending package after President Donald Trump clawed back $810 million in congressionally approved funding. Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Susan Collins (R-ME) told reporters on Monday she would once again try to curb the Trump administration…
A federal appeals court panel grilled New York officials in their bid to unfreeze $73.5 million federal highway funds the Trump administration is withholding over allegedly not complying with the Department of Transportation’s crackdown on commercial driver’s licenses for noncitizens. A three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for…
· Trump rescinds nearly $1B in federal funding, bypassing congressional approval from the morgue, 26 Sep 2026
· Trump cancels nearly $1B in funding for illegal immigrants and race-focused programs in new ‘pocket’ rescission from the morgue, 25 Sep 2026
· Trump takes aim at DEI and noncitizen programs in $1 billion pocket rescission from the morgue, 26 Sep 2026
· Bessent Defends Faltering Bond Market Intervention from the morgue, 15 Sep 2026
· Bessent says Treasury is ‘examining’ ability to cut $5,000 checks without Congress from the morgue, 15 Sep 2026
· Bessent’s move to tamp down rising rates backfires as bond yields jump, stocks tumble from the morgue, 9 Sep 2026
· The bond market is revolting — and your mortgage is the first casualty from the morgue, 4 Sep 2026
· Fiscal hawks skeptical of Bessent’s claim that US can ‘grow our way out’ of $40 trillion debt from the morgue, 27 Aug 2026
· Bessent blasts Warren’s ‘sciolistic’ letter about yen policy from the morgue, 29 Aug 2026
· Soros-funded Philadelphia district attorney insinuates Trump is a ‘35-time felon,’ calling $5,000 dividend a bribe from the morgue, 15 Sep 2026
· Soros-funded Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner’s terrible, horrible, no good, very bad Thursday from the morgue, 31 Aug 2026
· Voters have a blunt message for Trump about his idea to dole out $5,000 checks from the morgue, 15 Sep 2026
· Why Donald Trump has a Joe Biden problem from the morgue, 15 Sep 2026
· Does Trump have a 'Biden problem' on the economy? from the morgue, 15 Sep 2026
· Trump’s $5,000 dividend falls flat with GOP senators from the morgue, 15 Sep 2026
· Trump sees backlash over $5K dividend pledge from the morgue, 10 Sep 2026
· Trump plan to raise debt limit on shaky ground from the morgue, 26 Aug 2026
· 5 things to know about Trump's $5K dividend pledge from the morgue, 10 Sep 2026
· Vance strikes back at concern $5,000 Trump dividend will stoke debt: ‘Wealth will go back to the people’ from the morgue, 10 Sep 2026
· Marshall backtracks on support for $5,000 Trump dividend in Kansas Senate debate from the morgue, 12 Sep 2026
· Vance and MAGA Inc. work to defend Roger Marshall in redder Kansas from the morgue, 14 Sep 2026
· Roger Marshall Sued 700 Patients for Debts; 81 Were Arrested. Now He’s a Senator. from the morgue, 8 Sep 2026
· Conservatives would scream ‘bloody murder’ if Democratic president offered dividend to maintain power: Guy Benson from the morgue, 14 Sep 2026
· Will Trump's payout promises boost Republican appeal to white women? from the morgue, 14 Sep 2026
· Republicans need a Reagan-style vision to win the battle over America's future from the morgue, 14 Sep 2026
· Trump’s promised $5,000 ‘dividend’ checks: What to know from the morgue, 10 Sep 2026
· Trump’s Reckless $5,000 ‘Dividend’ from the morgue, 14 Sep 2026
· Republicans bet the House on Trump from the morgue, 14 Sep 2026
· Axelrod dismisses the idea of the proposed $5000 ‘Trump dividend’ from the morgue, 10 Sep 2026
· Trump pledges $5K 'Trump dividend' if Republicans hold onto Congress from the morgue, 10 Sep 2026
· Trump says $5K dividend checks to Americans will 'happen 100 percent' from the morgue, 14 Sep 2026
· Lawler deflects on supporting Trump's $5K dividend pledge: 'How do you pay for it?' from the morgue, 13 Sep 2026
· GOP rep says priority 'needs to be the military,' not $5K checks from the morgue, 13 Sep 2026
· Susan Collins calls Trump’s $5,000 dividend proposal with no cap ‘extraordinarily costly’ from the morgue, 11 Sep 2026
· Bret Baier presses Paxton on Trump $5K dividend payment support from the morgue, 11 Sep 2026
· Gavin Newsom calls Trump’s $5K voter payout ‘bulls—’ and a ‘desperate’ power grab from the morgue, 11 Sep 2026
· Trump pitches $5,000 checks, but only if GOP wins House and Senate from the morgue, 10 Sep 2026
· Trump's $5,000 payments would reignite inflation, economists say from the morgue, 10 Sep 2026
· Why Trump's promised $5,000 payments to Americans are unlikely to happen from the morgue, 10 Sep 2026
· Bond yields rise modestly after Trump's dividend pledge from the morgue, 10 Sep 2026
· GOP leaders blindsided by Trump’s promise of $5K checks from the morgue, 10 Sep 2026
· Trump promises Obamacare rebates to people in swing states from the morgue, 10 Sep 2026
· Steve Scalise says details of $5,000 dividends would "obviously have to be worked out by Congress" from the morgue, 10 Sep 2026
· Trump’s $5,000 dividend pledge divides Republicans over spending from the morgue, 10 Sep 2026
· Many Republicans skeptical about Trump plan to tie $5,000 dividends to GOP wins from the morgue, 10 Sep 2026
· Anger Grows Over 'Pathological Liar-in-Chief' Donald Trump's $5,000 Midterm Bribes from the morgue, 10 Sep 2026
· Spiking Bond Yields Pay the Rich and Squeeze Everyone Else from the morgue, 2 Sep 2026
· Trump-aligned group releases first midterm ads — and they’re all about him from the morgue, 2 Sep 2026
· The Memo: Bond market turmoil heightens midterm risks for Trump and GOP from the morgue, 2 Sep 2026
· Trump’s Plan To Cut $5,000 Checks For Americans Not Landing With Many Midterm Convention Attendees from the morgue, 10 Sep 2026
· Texas Democrat Gina Hinojosa backs Trump’s $5,000 dividend but rejects conditional payout from the morgue, 10 Sep 2026
· Voters may accept Trump’s bribes, but the bond markets aren’t biting from the morgue, 10 Sep 2026
· In Trump's Second Term, Average US Family Forced to Spend $3,800 More on Essentials from the morgue, 27 Aug 2026
· Why not to bank on Trump's $5,000 dividend checks happening from the morgue, 10 Sep 2026
· Trump shares details on $5,000 dividend with CBS News Texas from the morgue, 10 Sep 2026
· Some Republicans Balk at Trump’s $5,000 ‘Dividend’ Offer from the morgue, 10 Sep 2026
· The political risk behind Trump’s $5,000 pledge: From the Politics Desk from the morgue, 10 Sep 2026
· Bob Cusack raises concerns over Trump’s $5,000 check proposal: ‘Deficits matter, debt matters’ from the morgue, 10 Sep 2026
· Global sell-off in government bonds intensifies from the morgue, 1 Sep 2026
· Trump vs. the Bond Market from the morgue, 28 Aug 2026
· The United States House of Representatives passes the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 by 227 votes to 203. After being sent to the United States Senate for a vote, the Senate's parliamentarian found tha from the morgue, 19 Dec 2017
· The attorney general of New York announces she is suing the Donald J. Trump Foundation and its directors, President Donald Trump, Donald Trump, Jr., Ivanka Trump and Eric Trump. (CNBC) from the morgue, 14 Jun 2018
· Trump gambles big on midterm elections with convention spotlight from the morgue, 8 Sep 2026
· Vulnerable Republicans divided over wisdom of Trump’s midterm convention from the morgue, 8 Sep 2026
· Republican strategist knocks Trump for not spending more on GOP candidates from the morgue, 8 Sep 2026
· Republicans ready for 'very hasty' 'Trump-a-palooza' convention in Texas from the morgue, 30 Aug 2026
· Some Republicans are planning to skip Trump’s GOP convention from the morgue, 3 Sep 2026
· Trump promises $5,000 ‘dividend’ for adult Americans if Republicans win midterms from the morgue, 10 Sep 2026
· Trump claims $5,000 midterm dividends wouldn't need congressional approval from the morgue, 10 Sep 2026
· Trump's $5,000 dividend checks would come with a major catch under GOP senator's plan from the morgue, 10 Sep 2026
· Trump faces reckoning as GOP figures label $5K promise a 'socialist vote-buying scheme' from the morgue, 10 Sep 2026
· Trump’s proposed $5,000 dividend blindsides Congress, angers fiscal conservatives: ‘A dangerous arms race’ from the morgue, 10 Sep 2026
· Trump Wants to Give Out $5,000 Checks. It Would Cost More Than $1 Trillion. from the morgue, 10 Sep 2026
· Trump Promises Americans $5K Checks If GOP Wins Midterms, Raising Legal Questions from the morgue, 10 Sep 2026
· Fox News’s Baier presses Vance on Trump’s $5K dividend promise from the morgue, 10 Sep 2026
· Ansarallah advances on Bab al-Mandab; Trump offers to pay Americans $5,000 for midterm votes; U.S. kills 3 in Caribbean boat strike from the morgue, 10 Sep 2026
· Trump's Republican midterm convention included $5,000 pitch and Iran war expectations from the morgue, 10 Sep 2026
· Treasury boosts debt buyback cap to $6 billion from the morgue, 9 Sep 2026
· Treasury Plans $6 Billion in Debt Repurchases to Battle Rising Yields from the morgue, 9 Sep 2026
· Lowest-Paying US Corporations Have Poured Over $700 Billion Into Buybacks Since 2019 from the morgue, 27 Aug 2026
· Feds to buy up to $6 billion in Treasury bonds. Here's why. from the morgue, 9 Sep 2026
· Treasury reveals $6B in debt buybacks, triple the normal level – but markets slump from the morgue, 9 Sep 2026
· 10-year Treasury yields hit multiyear high after buyback increase from the morgue, 9 Sep 2026
This page is a back-issue: the story as it ran, receipts as they were. The current edition is at the front. The byline is a pen name for a column drafted by a machine and checked by the editor: how this is made.