Congress has passed President Trump’s $9 billion rescissions package, further advancing his sweeping effort to cut the federal government.
The bill codifies cuts to foreign aid and public broadcasting, both targets of DOGE. It slashes funding for USAID, which was effectively gutted by Trump earlier this year.
“It’s a small but important step toward fiscal sanity that we all should be able to agree is long overdue,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-Sc.) said.
Trump gets win
The House voted 216-213 to send the rescissions bill to Trump’s desk – making it the first time in decades that Congress has agreed to claw back previously approved spending at the request of the president.
Democrats and some Republicans said the bill would hurt rural Americans who rely on public media to receive information. The bill cuts funding to NPR and PBS, both public broadcasters that many say have a liberal bias.
The package’s success is further evidence of Trump’s dominance over the GOP, which is marching in lockstep to advance his agenda of government reform.
Two House Republicans, Brian Fitzpatrick (Pa.) and Mike Turner (Oh.), joined all Democrats in voting no.
The day before, the Senate passed the package 51-48 as two Republicans, Lisa Murkowski (Al.) and Susan Collins (Me.), voted no.
More cuts on the way
The package initially passed the House last month before undergoing some changes in the Senate. Most notably, lawmakers took out $400 million in cuts to PEPFAR, a global program for fighting HIV/AIDS that has long enjoyed bi-partisan support.
The tweak did not convince Murkowski and Collins, who continued to voice objections with Congress handing control over spending to the White House.
“I don’t want us to go from one reconciliation bill to a rescissions package to another rescissions package to a reconciliation package to a continuing resolution,” Murkowski said. “We’re lawmakers. We should be legislating. What we’re getting now is a direction from the White House and being told, ‘This is the priority, we want you to execute on it, we’ll be back with you with another round.’ I don’t accept that.”
The Senate sent the bill back to the House for final approval. The bill now heads to Trump’s desk for his signature.
Trump’s budget director, Russ Vought, said more rescission packages are on the way soon.
“Our enthusiasm, the president’s enthusiasm to send additional packages… I think it’s likely you’ll see an additional package,” Vought said Thursday.
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Author: Matthew Boose
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