Congress passes $9B in spending cuts to foreign aid and public broadcasting after narrow, heated vote.

House Narrowly Approves Spending Cuts After Intense Debate

Congress has sent a sweeping $9 billion spending cuts package to President Donald Trump’s desk following a razor-thin late-night vote in the House of Representatives. The bill, known as a "rescissions package," passed 216 to 213 minutes after midnight, capping a day of partisan conflict and last-minute negotiations between Republicans and Democrats. Only two Republicans, Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and Mike Turner of Ohio, voted against the measure, joining all Democrats in opposition.

The legislation blocks $8 billion in funding for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and $1 billion for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), impacting both international aid and domestic public media for the remainder of the 2025 fiscal year. The bill, supported by House Speaker Mike Johnson, is the first successful use of the rarely invoked rescissions process in more than two decades and is seen as a test run for fiscal discipline among Republican leadership.

"This bill tonight is part of continuing that trend of getting spending under control. Does it answer all the problems? No. $9 billion, I would say is a good start," remarked House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., during the debate. The vote’s timing was crucial, as failure to pass the bill by Friday would have forced the White House to re-obligate the funds as previously planned.

Senate Divided as Republicans Break Ranks

The measure survived a similarly narrow path in the Senate, passing 51-48 after extensive debate. Some Republicans, including Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine, broke with party lines, raising concerns about the lack of transparency in the administration’s budget cuts and the risk of undermining congressional authority over spending. Collins, chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, criticized the Office of Management and Budget for failing to specify which programs would be affected. Murkowski, who previously secured aid for rural hospitals, objected to the scale of public broadcasting cuts affecting rural communities.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune acknowledged internal negotiations, noting that a $400 million restoration for global HIV/AIDS prevention helped secure passage. But despite these adjustments, the $9 billion cut remains a small fraction of the nearly $7 trillion federal budget and the soaring national debt, now approaching $37 trillion.

Republican leaders, however, celebrated the package as a victory for reining in "woke" initiatives and blocking taxpayer dollars from overseas and domestic programs they oppose. "This to me was low-hanging fruit," said Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo. "At the end of the day, I'll take a base hit, right? It's better than nothing."

Democrats Decry Cuts, Raise Epstein Transparency Amid Tensions

Throughout the proceedings, Democrats fiercely opposed the measure, arguing that it would gut critical foreign aid and damage public broadcasting. They also sought to use the debate to push for transparency in the ongoing Jeffrey Epstein case, repeatedly calling for the release of related files and criticizing Republicans for blocking those efforts. House Majority Leader Scalise countered by highlighting Democratic inaction on the issue during the previous administration.

In the end, a compromise advanced a separate nonbinding resolution on Epstein transparency alongside the rescissions bill, but tensions lingered as the final vote approached.

With the bill’s passage, White House Budget Director Russ Vought is expected to send additional rescissions proposals to Congress, aiming for deeper spending reductions. Yet, the protracted battle over even modest cuts signals challenging negotiations ahead, as lawmakers confront mounting fiscal pressures and entrenched partisan divides.