United States: Congress approves $9 billion in budget cuts under Trump's leadership
Elon Musk's Doge Commission identified the cuts, which affect nearly $8 billion initially earmarked for the development aid agency USAID, with the remainder primarily earmarked for public media outlets NPR and PBS.
Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune strongly downplayed the impact of such a budget cut. Photo Sipa/AP/J. Scott Applewhite
The US Congress definitively approved on Friday budget cuts worth some $9 billion, driven by the White House and Elon Musk's Doge Commission, primarily affecting international aid. The bill received 216 votes in favor and 213 against (including those of two Republican lawmakers) in the House of Representatives, and Donald Trump must now sign it into law before the Friday evening deadline.
Elon Musk 's Doge Commission identified the cuts, which affect nearly $8 billion originally intended for the development aid agency USAID, with the remainder to be allocated primarily to public media outlets NPR and PBS.
AIDS program ultimately sparedThe Trump administration then asked Congress to revoke the funds, which it would otherwise have been obligated to spend. "This is what the American people voted for," Republican Tom Emmer, a senior House leader, said before the bill's passage.
The Pepfar Global AIDS Program, created under George W. Bush , was initially affected by these cuts, with $400 million canceled, but moderate Republican senators succeeded in removing this portion of the bill. Senate Republican Majority Leader John Thune on Wednesday downplayed the impact of these cuts while welcoming a necessary first step.
Two public media impacted"We're talking about 1/10th of 1% of all federal spending," he told reporters. "When you have a $36 trillion debt, we have to do something," the South Dakota senator added. In June, the Republican president congratulated himself on recovering $9 billion "intended for wasteful foreign aid."
He also attacked NPR radio and PBS television, which he said were "highly biased" against Republicans. Both public media outlets risk losing $1.1 billion that was earmarked for them. The U.S. Constitution provides that Congress has the sole power to allocate federal public funds.
The bill is the first in what Republicans have touted as a potential series of legislative packages codifying the spending cuts identified by Doge and requested by the White House, even though those funds had already been approved by Congress.
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