Washington DC – The Senate approved early Thursday a package of spending cuts proposed by President Donald Trump that would cancel more than $9 billion in funding for foreign aid programs and public broadcasting.
Despite the cutbacks’ unpopularity in some sections of both parties, the Republican-led Senate passed the measure with 51 votes for and 48 against in a session that went more than two hours past midnight.
The version of the text passed in June by the House of Representatives sought to eliminate $400 million in funding allocated to health programs, including the PEPFAR global AIDS relief fund created by then-president George W. Bush.
But defunding PEPFAR – which has saved an estimated 26 million lives – was seen as a nonstarter among a handful of moderate Republican senators, and the proposal was dropped.
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South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham told AFP the bill was consistent with Trump’s promises to cut spending.
“I’ve been a big fan of the foreign aid accounts… I’m a big hawkish guy, but you need foreign aid. You need soft power,” he said.
“But when you start spending money on a bunch of junk, and liberal programs disconnected from the purpose of the aid package, it makes it difficult on a guy like me.”
The bill now goes back to the House for final approval, with lawmakers up against the clock. Congress, which had already allocated the money, has to approve the cuts by Friday or the White House must spend the cash as originally intended.
Legislation to claw back money already approved by Congress – known as a “rescissions package” – is extremely rare, and no such measure has passed in decades.
Around a dozen Republicans had voiced concerns about allowing the White House to dictate spending cuts, placing them in the crosshairs of Trump, who last week threatened to withhold his endorsements from any rebels.
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The vote was the first in what Republicans have touted as a potential series of packages codifying the spending cuts made by the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, formerly led by far-right billionaire Elon Musk.
The SpaceX and Tesla boss had boasted that he would be able to save $2 trillion in federal spending, but he left the White House under a cloud in late May amid a feud with Trump over deficits and spending.
DOGE acknowledges that it has saved taxpayers just $190 billion, but fact-checkers see even that claim as dubious, given previous inaccuracies in its accounting.
The rescissions package slashes around $8 billion in foreign aid, with much of that approved for USAID, one of DOGE’s first targets.
Around $1 billion is to be taken back from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which helps fund NPR and PBS, as well as more than 1,500 local radio and television stations.
