The Trump administration is employing unprecedented tactics to wrest control of federal spending from Congress, threatening one of the legislature's core constitutional powers — the so-called "power of the purse." Actions including unilateral budget cuts to agencies such as the U.S. Agency for International Development and the National Institutes of Health, the use of a procedural manoeuvre known as a "pocket rescission" to bypass congressional approval of fund cancellations, and the freezing of grants deemed to conflict with White House priorities have all moved spending decisions firmly into executive hands. Budget experts warn the shift may be permanent: Georgetown University Law Center professor David Super says the changes alter the funding process "forever," since legal precedents set under the current administration will be available to all future presidents. Compounding the trend, Congress itself is increasingly bypassing its traditional bipartisan appropriations process in favour of budget reconciliation bills — such as the Republicans' so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act — which require no cross-party consensus and can lock in spending priorities for multiple years, removing the annual oversight that normally allows lawmakers to cut funding for underperforming programmes. Even some Republican legislators have expressed unease, with House Appropriations Committee member Dan Newhouse warning that without a rebalancing, Congress risks becoming "more and more irrelevant."