From the Daily Caller News Foundation

By Hailey Gomez

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Scott Turner said Friday on Fox News’ “Jesse Watters Primetime” that illegal immigrants may no longer “live in taxpayer-funded housing.”

In March, Turner and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced the “American Housing Programs for American Citizens,” ending “the wasteful misappropriation of taxpayer dollars to benefit illegal aliens instead of American citizens.” Discussing how HUD plans to prevent illegal migrants from living in public housing, Turner said the department has already issued a letter to the D.C. Housing Authority requesting its full list of residents and those without U.S. citizenship.

“President Trump is serious not only in cleaning up the crime in our streets, but also American citizens will be prioritized when it comes to living in HUD-funded, government-funded housing,” Turner said. “We just sent out a letter to the D.C. Housing Authority, and it has been received by them. And, as you said, they have 30 days to give us a full, comprehensive account of everyone living inside of D.C. housing that are receiving Section 8 vouchers or any type of HUD funding.”

WATCH:

“We want the names, the address, the number of people in the unit, the size of the unit, the cost of the unit. And they must give us their American citizenship status or eligible immigration status. No longer will we allow illegal aliens to live in taxpayer-funded housing here in America. In the last administration, in the Biden administration, they turned a blind eye. They didn’t collect the data,” Turner added. “But those days are over. We are collecting  the data to make sure they’re illegal aliens. And for that criminal activity, no one doing criminal activity is living in HUD-funded housing, which is literally on the backs of taxpayers in America.”

Under the Biden administration, the border crisis became a major issue for the president as officials estimated a total of 10.8 million encounters with illegal migrants since fiscal year 2021. With a massive influx of illegal immigrants coming into the United States, Democrat mayors of sanctuary cities like Denver and New York City eventually asked the administration for funding to address the issue in 2023.

By 2024, reports indicated that due to the surge of illegal immigrants, the U.S. had an estimated shortage of 4 million to 7 million housing units, with developers struggling to keep up with the demand for homes. In addition to housing concerns, rent in 2024 saw an increase of 20.9% since 2021, which had already risen due to inflation under Biden.

According to data from the Center for Immigration Studies, an estimated 59% of illegal immigrant households use one or more welfare programs, which costs taxpayers an estimated $42 billion.

MxM News

Quick Hit:

President Trump has initiated a rarely used budget tactic to cancel almost $5 billion in foreign aid and peacekeeping funds. The move, known as a “pocket rescission,” hasn’t been attempted since 1977 and comes after a federal appeals court cleared the way for the administration to act Thursday.

Key Details:

• Trump’s request targets $3.2 billion in USAID development assistance, $322 million from the Democracy Fund, $521 million in State Department contributions to international organizations, and more than $800 million tied to international peacekeeping.
• Spending flagged by the administration includes $24.6 million for “climate resilience” in Honduras, $2.7 million for a South African group accused of publishing anti-white content, and $3.9 million to promote LGBT initiatives in the Balkans.
• The legality of pocket rescissions is contested. The Government Accountability Office considers them unlawful, while Trump’s OMB cites precedents from the Ford and Carter administrations.

Diving Deeper:

President Donald Trump is moving to strike down nearly $5 billion in foreign aid and peacekeeping spending making use of a controversial budget tactic not exercised in nearly half a century. On Thursday night, Trump formally notified Congress of his intention to cancel the funding—hours after a D.C. appeals court lifted an injunction that had kept the money frozen.

The mechanism Trump is invoking is called a “pocket rescission,” a maneuver where a rescission request is sent so late in the fiscal year—ending September 30—that the money effectively expires regardless of congressional action. The last time a president attempted such a move was 1977 under Jimmy Carter.

The spending Trump is clawing back includes $3.2 billion in U.S. Agency for International Development development programs, $322 million from the USAID-State Department Democracy Fund, $521 million in contributions to international organizations, and $838 million in peacekeeping programs. These funds had been earmarked for foreign governments, NGOs, and U.N. peacekeeping missions but were stalled earlier this year by a lawsuit from the Global Health Council. With the injunction lifted Thursday, Trump seized the opening.

The White House has spotlighted a number of allocations it deems wasteful, pointing to $24.6 million for climate projects in Honduras, $2.7 million for South Africa’s Democracy Works Foundation—known for publishing racially charged content such as “The Problem with White People”—and $3.9 million earmarked for promoting LGBT political activity in the Balkans. Other projects include $1.5 million to promote the artwork of Ukrainian women.

The $838 million in canceled peacekeeping funds had supported operations such as U.N. missions in the Democratic Republic of Congo—where Trump officials recently helped negotiate a peace agreement with Rwanda—and in the Central African Republic, where peacekeeping efforts have been criticized for aligning with Russian-linked interests. Specific items cut include $11 million for armored personnel carriers for Uruguay’s peacekeepers, $4 million for a training center in Zambia, and $3 million for housing Kazakhstani peacekeepers. U.S. funding for the Multinational Force and Observers mission on the Egyptian-Israeli border remains untouched.

The legality of pocket rescissions remains disputed. The Impoundment Control Act of 1974 restricts presidential authority to block congressionally approved spending and requires Congress to act on rescission requests within 45 days. Trump has previously followed that route, recently signing off on rescissions that cut $1 billion from NPR and PBS and $8 billion from USAID.

But OMB Director Russ Vought and General Counsel Mark Paoletta argue that precedent exists for pocket rescissions, citing Carter and Ford-era actions. Paoletta has noted that in 1977, Carter submitted rescission requests that expired when fiscal deadlines lapsed, with the GAO “noting the lapse without objection.” He has since accused GAO of reversing its interpretation during Trump’s first term out of “Trump Derangement Syndrome.”

GAO could potentially challenge the maneuver in court, though questions remain about the agency’s constitutional footing, as some argue the comptroller general position itself could be vulnerable to a legal challenge. For now, Trump has revived a budgetary weapon not used in nearly five decades, setting the stage for another clash with Washington’s entrenched bureaucracy.