Senate Republicans on Thursday approved a $9 billion package of spending cuts, slashing funds for foreign aid and public broadcasting after an all-night session.
The rescissions bill, part of President Donald Trump’s effort to claw back previously authorized federal spending, passed 51-48 just before dawn following a marathon “vote-a-rama” in which Republicans defeated a series of amendments aimed at preserving funding for certain international programs.
“This is a small but important step toward fiscal sanity,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said, noting that it was the first time in decades the Senate had passed such a package. The House passed an earlier version of the bill in June, but because Senate Republicans made changes, including dropping a proposed $400 million cut to the U.S.-backed HIV/AIDS program PEPFAR, the measure must now return to the House. Both chambers must agree on a final version before Friday for the cuts to take effect.
The bill takes back funds that Congress previously approved, including approximately $8 billion from global health and international aid programs and over $1 billion from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which primarily supports NPR and PBS. Amendments to protect these funds failed.
Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Susan Collins, R-Maine, voted against the bill along with all Democrats.
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Some other Republicans expressed frustration with the rushed process and lack of details from the White House, however. Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., voted for the bill but warned, “Let’s not consider this a precedent … give us the specific amounts and the specific programs that will be cut.”
The vote came just days after Senate Republicans passed another controversial measure that cut taxes for the wealthy while stripping funding from social services.
Democrats condemned Thursday’s cuts as harmful and shortsighted.
“Millions get their news from NPR and PBS every day. For emergency alerts, disaster updates, the weather and other reliable news,” said Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., on X. “Stations in rural areas, which rely twice as much on federal funding, could close. Defunding this basic service would put millions in the dark.”
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“Americans rely on public radio for severe weather alerts and more,” added Sen. Chris van Hollen, D-Md.,“Senate Republicans want to gut public broadcasting to make room for their billionaire tax cuts, and the consequences could be deadly — especially in rural America. We must stop this bill.”
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., focused on the geopolitical implications of the cuts. “The Republican campaign to destroy all our non-military national security tools — on display last night — underscores their dangerous misunderstanding of the world. China and Russia spend billions on things like information warfare and economic coercion — as Trump disarms,” he wrote on social media.
The House is expected to take up the Senate’s version later Thursday. If a final agreement isn’t reached by Friday, the rescissions package will expire and the funds will remain available.
