In a report sent to congressional offices Tuesday morning, the GAO approved the vast majority of the Trump administration’s $15.3 billion plan to cancel spending. | Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images Trump spending cuts allowed to target kids’ health insurance

The Government Accountability Office on Tuesday delivered a victory to the Trump administration by greenlighting a proposal to claw back more than $7 billion in unused cash from the Children’s Health Insurance Program.

In a report sent to congressional offices Tuesday morning, the GAO approved the vast majority of the administration’s $15.3 billion plan to cancel spending.


With that legal approval, the White House’s plan for so-called rescissions will likely retain its filibuster-proof powers in the GOP-controlled Senate, easing the way for potential passage with a simple majority vote.

Democrats have argued that the White House’s attempt to target CHIP — a mandatory spending program for kids’ health coverage — should disqualify it from that procedural advantage.

One problem found by the GAO is related to a pair of Department of Transportation highway trust fund accounts, which the Trump administration proposed to cut by a total of $133 million.

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The GAO said that the Trump administration did not have authority to withhold funds from certain projects because the DOT secretary “has no discretion over the obligation of funds provided for the specified projects,” GAO wrote in its report.

The House has already drafted legislation mirroring the White House's request, which is expected to receive a House floor vote in June.

Senate GOP leaders have not said whether they would take up an identical bill. Several senators, including Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Susan Collins (R-Maine), have raised issues with the Trump administration's package, including the cuts to CHIP.

In the Senate, a single Republican "no" vote likely would be enough to sink the package. Democrats are expected to unanimously oppose the bill in both chambers.