President Donald Trump is pushing Congress to slash billions more in foreign spending with the White House’s latest rescissions package.
Trump notified Congress Thursday night of his proposed rescissions package, which is set to slash nearly $5 billion in foreign aid programs, Blaze News confirmed.
‘Russ is now at the helm.’
The latest cuts include $3.2 billion in USAID funding, $322 million from the USAID-State Department Democracy Fund, $521 million of State Department contributions to other international organizations, $393 million in State Department contributions to peacekeeping activities, and another $445 million in peacekeeping aid.
“Since January, we’ve saved the taxpayers tens of billions of dollars,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a post on X.
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Photo by Demetrius Freeman/Washington Post via Getty Images
“And with a small set of core programs moved over to the State Department, USAID is officially in closeout mode,” Rubio added. “Russ is now at the helm to oversee the closeout of an agency that long ago went off the rails. Congrats, Russ.”
Trump, alongside Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought, got a $9 billion rescissions package passed through Congress back in July, which similarly cut back on foreign aid spending as well as funding for public broadcasting.
The Senate narrowly passed the rescissions package 51-48 after an overnight vote-a-rama on July 17. Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine bucked their party and voted against the spending cuts.
The House promptly passed the cuts the following afternoon in a 216-213 vote. Republican Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and Mike Turner of Ohio voted against the package.
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Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
Congress now has 45 days to pass Trump’s rescissions package. Notably, Congress will also be tasked with tackling the budget before the September 30 funding deadline. Despite the urgency, lawmakers have been out of town for August recess and are expected to come back into session starting September 2.
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Author: Rebeka Zeljko
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