House sends cuts to foreign aid, PBS and NPR to Trump's desk
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
House Speaker Mike Johnson arrives for a Capitol Hill press conference on July 15. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
The House voted early Friday to approve President Trump's requested clawback of $9 billion in federal funding for PBS, NPR and foreign aid programs.
Why it matters: Democrats fear the victory for the White House — following on DOGE's massive cuts — opens the door for more rescissions packages negating bipartisan spending deals.
- The measure passed 216-213 with only Republican support shortly ahead of a Friday night deadline.
- GOP Reps. Mike Turner (Ohio) and Brian Fitzpatrick (Pa.) voted with Democrats against the bill.
The big picture: The GOP's rescissions package takes back money that has already been appropriated by Congress and signed into law by the president.
- The Senate stripped parts of the version the House passed in June, including cuts to PEPFAR — a global health program to prevent HIV and AIDS.
- The measure passed 51-48 early Thursday in that chamber — also with only Republican support.
- Two Republicans — Susan Collins (Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) — voted with Democrats against the bill.
Zoom in: The rescission package stalled in the House on Thursday due to a partisan fight over disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
- Multiple factions of the GOP conference raised concerns about Democratic maneuvers in the Rules Committee aimed at pushing Republicans into tough votes related to Epstein.
- House Republicans spent the day negotiating with leadership about the path forward, which ultimately resulted in a GOP-led amendment that calls for the release of information related to Epstein.
- The non-binding resolution, which does not have the force of law, is expected to be voted on by the House at a later date.
Between the lines: Democrats on Capitol Hill have been exerting increasing pressure on Republicans to break with Trump over his handling of the Epstein files.
- It's a move designed to deepen divisions among Republicans.
The bottom line: Democrats worry Trump will ask Congress to approve even larger rescission packages in the future, potentially undermining bipartisan deals to avoid a government shutdown.
- Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has warned Republicans against more attempts to rescind federal funding, signaling that could threaten Democrats' support for government funding bills ahead of a Sept. 30 deadline.
- Unlike the rescissions bills, which have a simple majority threshold for passage, any measure to fund the government before the end of September will require Democratic support to get to 60 votes in the Senate.
