Senate Passes DOGE-Inspired Bill To Claw Back Billions of Dollars in Foreign Aid, Public Broadcasting Funds

The House is set to vote today on the White House’s DOGE-inspired bill to cut billions of dollars from foreign aid and public broadcasting programs after the Senate advanced the legislation early Thursday morning. Just two Republicans voted against the bill in the Senate.The chamber voted on the bill just before 3 a.m. on Thursday, sending it back to the House for final passage. It is expected to be on the president’s desk by the end of the day on Thursday for his signature. The Senate passed the bill, 51 to 48, with Senators Collins and Murkowski being the only two Republicans to vote no. Senator Smith of Minnesota was hospitalized on Wednesday and missed the vote. One key point for winning support from more moderate members was a change to the bill to protect some global health programs, including PEPFAR, which for two decades has been saving millions of lives in the developing world through HIV and AIDS prevention and treatment. Ms. Collins successfully negotiated the proposed $9.4 billion funding reduction down to just $9 billion, saving an extra $400 million in global health funding, even though she did ultimately vote against the legislation. Ms. Collins had said she wanted to protect the public funds for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, as well. She also expressed disapproval at the White House’s lack of specificity about how exactly the cuts would be enacted. “Nobody really knows what program reductions are in it,” Ms. Collins, the chairwoman of the powerful Appropriations Committee, said in a statement on Tuesday. “That isn’t because we haven’t had time to review the bill. Instead, the problem is that OMB has never provided the details that would normally be part of this process.”“To carry out our constitutional responsibility, we should know exactly what programs are affected,” Ms. Collins said. Other cuts, including to the United States Agency for International Development, are still included in the package. Elon Musk was instrumental in helping to shut down the agency and move what remains of it under the umbrella of the Department of State, much to the chagrin of Democrats. Mr. Musk himself has been dissatisfied with how the White House has handled this saga, considering the $9 billion funding cut pales in comparison to the trillions of dollars that will be added to the deficit as a result of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. “What the heck was the point of @DOGE if he’s just going to increase the debt by $5 trillion??” Mr. Musk asked rhetorically in an X post earlier this month, referring to a multitrillion-dollar hike in the debt ceiling that was included in the big, beautiful bill. Senate Democrats, early in the morning Thursday, were echoing Mr. Musk’s comments. “$9 billion this week, $3 trillion last week!” Senator Kaine shouted jokingly at Republicans as Senator Thune was speaking, referring to the cuts passed Thursday compared to the deficit increases in the big, beautiful bill. This is the first standalone recissions bill passed by the Senate during President Trump’s tenure. Mr. Trump proposed a rescissions package in 2018 that would have clawed back $15 billion in funds for children’s health insurance, international disaster relief, and money for transportation and energy projects. The Senate declined to take up that bill. The White House says that this will not be the last rescissions bill to come before Congress. “It’s the first of many rescissions bills,” Mr. Trump’s budget director, Russell Vought, said in an interview with CNN in early June.The rescissions process could end up being a boon for congressional Republicans and the White House as they look to cut discretionary spending for things like education, healthcare, transportation, and other items. Because of how the annual appropriations process works, government spending bills require 60 votes in the Senate, which necessitates the support of Democrats even in the Republican-controlled Senate. But once those appropriations bills are approved, the White House can simply send a rescissions request to Congress, where only 51 votes are required in the Senate for passage. Senator Schumer elicited a wave of negative responses from his fellow Democrats when he went along with a government funding deal in March. His approval rating immediately plummeted, and one Republican senator joked that the Democratic leader became about as popular as a sexually transmitted disease.

Senate Passes DOGE-Inspired Bill To Claw Back Billions of Dollars in Foreign Aid, Public Broadcasting Funds

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