WASHINGTON — The White House sent congressional leaders a request Tuesday to claw back $9.4 billion in approved spending, most of it for foreign aid.
The package would require simple majority support in the House and the Senate, meaning Republicans could bypass Democrats to pass it.
The package includes $8.3 billion in cuts to foreign aid, including a number of programs designed to support LGBTQ communities.
And the package includes $1.1 billion in cuts to funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
“This rescissions package reflects many of DOGE’s findings and is one of the many legislative tools Republicans are using to restore fiscal sanity,” Johnson said in a statement.
Washington — On Tuesday, the White House requested that congressional leaders rescind $9.4 billion in authorized spending, the majority of which was for foreign aid.
Revocations of the package would reduce U.S. funding. A. The Department of Government Efficiency, the advisory body led by Elon Musk, the billionaire ally of President Donald Trump, until he resigned last week, would propose cuts that the Agency for International Development, NPR, and PBS would seek to codify.
Republicans could pass the package by avoiding Democrats because it would only need simple majority support in both the House and the Senate.
Several programs that support LGBTQ communities are among the $8.3 billion in foreign aid cuts included in the package. Along with funding for the World Health Organization, reproductive health, and education and transportation programs, there are also cuts of approximately $9 million to the U.S. government and $142 million to UNICEF. A. The president’s emergency plan to combat AIDS. Additionally, the package includes a $1.11 billion cut to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s funding.
If you compare the $9.4 billion to the $6.8 trillion that the U.S. S. yearly expenditures made by the government. Additionally, a comprehensive domestic policy bill that would increase the debt by more than $2 trillion is being pushed by congressional Republicans. Nonetheless, spending hawks view it as a crucial step in the rare process of reversing approved spending.
John Thune, R-S, is the Senate Majority Leader. D. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La. have both promised to look into the request right away. After the package is submitted, Congress has forty-five days to approve it.
“This rescissions package is one of the many legislative tools Republicans are using to restore fiscal sanity and reflects many of DOGE’s findings,” Johnson said in a statement. “The White House and Congress will continue to collaborate closely to codify these recommendations, and the House will expeditiously bring the package to the floor.”. “”.
Congress, which has the authority to control the purse, usually rejects attempts by a president to refuse to allocate certain spending that it has directed, which is why rescindsion packages usually fail.
Sen. The chair of the Appropriations Committee, Susan Collins, R-Maine, told reporters Monday that there are still some unanswered questions regarding the procedure, saying, “We’re still talking with the parliamentarian about what can and can’t be done,” in reference to the Senate rules in-house referee.
Since there hasn’t been a successful rescission package in a very long time, she explained, “It’s very complicated and the rules.”.
Conservative hardliners in the House Freedom Caucus are urging a swift vote on the package.
“The House Freedom Caucus fully supports these important rescissions, and we will support as many more packages of rescissions as the White House can send us in the weeks and months ahead,” the group, which is led by Rep. Andy Harris, R.Md. stated in a declaration. “A Republican House should move forward with the first DOGE rescissions package the same week it is presented to Congress and swiftly send it to the Republican Senate for passage so President Trump can sign it into law, even though the Swamp will unavoidably try to stall and kill these cuts. “.”.
