Topline
The House voted to approve the White House’s request to scrap $9 billion in previously approved funding for foreign aid and public broadcasting early on Friday, sending the matter to President Donald Trump’s desk, after a delay caused by a clash in the narrowly divided chamber over the Epstein files issue.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., hailed the package’s passage as a win for “fiscal … More
Key Facts
The rescissions package, which will claw back the already-approved funding, was passed mostly along party lines with a 216-213 vote, a day after the Senate cleared it.
However, two GOP members, Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., and Mike Turner, R-Ohio, voted against the measure along with all Democrats.
The legislation will now be sent to Trump’s desk, who hailed its passage on Truth Social, saying: “REPUBLICANS HAVE TRIED DOING THIS FOR 40 YEARS, AND FAILED….BUT NO MORE. THIS IS BIG!!!”
The president’s post attacked public broadcast funding, saying the $9 billion cuts include “ATROCIOUS NPR AND PUBLIC BROADCASTING, WHERE BILLIONS OF DOLLARS A YEAR WERE WASTED.”
The rescissions package will allow the Trump administration to claw back $1.1 billion in funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which helps fund public broadcasters like PBS and NPR, and approximately $8 billion from foreign aid programs, including allocations to USAID.
The Senate had passed the package early on Thursday in a 51-48 vote, with two Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine, voting against it.
Crucial Quote
After the bill’s passage, Mike Johnson tweeted: “President Trump and House Republicans promised fiscal responsibility and government efficiency. Today, we’re once again delivering on that promise…The American people will no longer be forced to fund politically biased media and more than $8 billion in outrageous expenses overseas.”