In a tight vote early Thursday, the Senate approved President Donald Trump’s proposal to rescind $9 billion in federal funding, including major cuts to foreign aid and public broadcasting. The 5-48 decision reflected deep divisions in Congress over federal spending, with two Republicans, Senators Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, breaking ranks to vote with Democrats against the bill. Senator Tina Smith (D-Minnesota) was absent due to hospitalization.
The legislation now returns to the House, which must pass by Friday under the rules governing presidential rescissions. If approved, it would mark the first successful use of this process in decades. Senate Republicans, while generally supportive, pushed for the restoration of $400 million to PEPFAR, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, an initiative credited with saving millions of lives since its inception in 2003, as first reported by The Washington Post.
However, public broadcasting did not receive a similar reprieve. The bill includes a $1.1 billion cut to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which funds NPR and PBS. While the core institutions have alternate revenue streams, Democrats warned that local stations, especially in rural areas, could face severe setbacks.
“Many states already invest in public broadcasting,” Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Missouri), the bill’s lead sponsor, said on the Senate floor. “It’s entirely reasonable and frankly long overdue to expect them to shoulder more of the burden.”
The legislation also targets billions in foreign aid, including support for refugee programs, democracy promotion, and United Nations initiatives. White House budget chief Russell Vought defended the cuts, pointing to what he called wasteful spending on international projects like electric buses in Rwanda and Ukrainian wind farms.
Some GOP Senators supported the bill but expressed concerns about unintended consequences, such as Sens. Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina) “I suspect we’re going to find out there are some things we’re going to regret, some second- and third-order effects, and I suspect that when we do, we’ll have to come back and fix it,” said Tillis.
On the other hand, Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) voted against starting debate on the bill Tuesday but flipped and supported it Thursday morning. “I don’t have any problem with reducing spending,” McConnell told reporters Tuesday evening. “We’re talking about not knowing — they would like a blank check, is what they would like. I don’t think that’s appropriate.”
Republican leaders described the bill as a first step toward larger budget reforms, even though the savings amount to a fraction of total federal expenditures. Critics, including Democratic lawmakers, argued that the move sets a dangerous precedent, allowing the executive branch to reverse Congressional decisions and potentially destabilize future bipartisan negotiations.
