In win for Trump, House narrowly OKs effort to claw back $9B from budget -- including cuts to public broadcasting and USAID
In a major win for President Donald Trump, the Republican-led House narrowly passed a White House request to claw back $9 billion from the federal budget, including funding for foreign aid and public broadcasting.
The final vote was 216-213.
Trump requested the cuts, which include significant reductions to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), formalizing some of the cuts made by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency by striking $9.4 billion from the previously approved federal budget.
Two Republicans in the House voted against the measure: Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and Mike Turner of Ohio.
The measure now heads to Trump's desk for signature.
House Speaker Mike Johnson celebrated the passage of the $9 billion rescissions package and said there would be additional rescissions bills coming.
"This isn't the end, it's the beginning," he said.
House passage came a day after the Senate narrowly approved the measure.
The vote in the Senate was 51-48 with Sens. Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski voting with Democrats against the rescissions bill.
A number of Republicans that represent states with rural communities -- such as Murkowski of Alaska and Mike Rounds of South Dakota -- have expressed concerns about cuts to public broadcasting that could affect the ability of certain communities to access emergency alerts.
The final vote in Senate happened after an hourslong and slow-moving vote-a-rama -- or marathon voting session -- during which Democrats offered numerous amendments to the bill. The bulk of Democratic amendments focused on trying to fight back against cuts to both public broadcast and global health that are in the bill.
The Senate's process to advance the package began on Tuesday night when Republicans narrowly advanced the rescissions package with the assist of the tie-breaking vote of Vice President J.D. Vance.
Three Republicans crossed the aisle on Tuesday night to cast votes against the bill after raising concerns about the lack of detail in the White House's rescission plan: Sens. Collins, Murkowski and Mitch McConnell.
