President Donald Trump announced Sept. 28 that his administration would withhold $810 million in spending Congress had approved, setting up a dispute over the limits of presidential power as the federal fiscal year was about to end. A White House memo said $567 million of the total was designated for programs serving refugees, people granted asylum and other noncitizens. The administration also identified $15 million for a Justice Department team addressing racial and ethnic tensions and civil disorders, and $70 million for grants and fellowships supporting U.S. study and teaching programs for foreign students and faculty. Other affected funds went to research and nonprofit grants, including programs focused on climate change and racial and gender minorities. The administration’s action is known as a “pocket rescission”: withholding money so late in the fiscal year that Congress has little or no time to respond before the funds expire. Under the process for formally canceling appropriated money, a president is supposed to give Congress 45 days to consider a rescission request. The Government Accountability Office, a nonpartisan congressional watchdog, has said pocket rescissions are illegal. Congress holds the constitutional power to tax and decide how federal money is spent. The White House’s announcement came less than a week before the fiscal year’s end, leaving lawmakers little time to reject the cancellations or redirect the money. The move drew criticism across party lines. Sen. Susan Collins, a Maine Republican who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, said the Office of Management and Budget “does not get to decide which programs are worth funding.” She called the action another effort by the agency to undermine Congress’ constitutional authority over spending. Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, the committee’s top Democrat, called the withholding “theft from the American people” and said lawmakers who approved the spending should be angry. Rep. Brendan Boyle, the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee, said Trump was making cuts through the “back door” because he could not win congressional approval for them. The dispute puts the administration’s approach to federal spending at odds with Congress’ role in deciding how public funds are allocated. The White House did not respond to a request for comment.