The Senate pushed through nearly $9 billion in spending cuts demanded by President Trump, hitting public broadcasting and foreign food aid hard. Despite worries from some Republicans, the bill passed 51-48 after a long night of debate. Now it heads to the House.
This bill won’t make much dent in the nation’s growing debt, but it will slash funding for key programs—from public radio and TV to food aid overseas. Democrats and some Republicans worry this gives too much power to the White House without clear rules on what exactly will be cut.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune called the cuts “a small but important step for fiscal sanity.” But Sen. Susan Collins said the bill “has a big problem — nobody really knows what program reductions are in it.” Collins and Sen. Lisa Murkowski joined Democrats in opposing the bill.
Public broadcasting, including local radio and TV stations, faces a $1.1 billion cut—the full amount it was supposed to get in the next two years. These funds support more than 1,500 local stations and national programs like NPR and PBS.
Murkowski warned the cuts would hurt rural communities. She said on the Senate floor: these stations aren’t “just your news — it is your tsunami alert, it is your landslide alert, it is your volcano alert.”
Less than a day later, a 7.3 earthquake struck Alaska, and local public stations issued tsunami warnings. Murkowski said this “is a reminder that when we hear people rant about how public broadcasting is nothing more than this radical, liberal effort to pollute people’s minds, I think they need to look at what some of the basic services are to communities.”
Some money will be redirected to Native American stations, but Kate Riley of America’s Public Television Stations said this is “at best a short-term, half-measure” that still leaves many stations facing cuts.
The bill also cuts $8 billion from foreign aid, including:
$800 million for emergency shelter and family reunification for refugees
$496 million for food, water, and health care in disaster zones
$4.15 billion from programs that support developing nations’ economies and democracies
Democrats warned these cuts would harm America’s global standing and leave room for China to expand its influence.
Sen. Brian Schatz said the cuts have “life-and-death consequences.” He said, “People are dying right now, not in spite of us but because of us.”
After pushback, Republicans removed a $400 million cut to PEPFAR, the HIV/AIDS program credited with saving millions of lives.
Normally, cutting spending requires bipartisan agreement, but this bill only needed a simple majority. This lets Republicans push through deep cuts on party lines, sidelining Democrats.
More rescission bills could come if this one passes, but some Republicans worry about the process.
Sen. Roger Wicker said, “Let’s not make a habit of this,” warning that the White House isn’t clear about what will be cut.
Sen. Thom Tillis said Republicans will need Democrats to avoid a government shutdown later this year. “The only way to fund the government is to get at least seven Democrats to vote with us at the end of September or we could go into a shutdown.”
Collins tried to reduce the cuts by $2.5 billion and restore some funding for public broadcasting and health programs. But without enough Republican support, she gave up.
The House already approved the cuts mostly along party lines, but with Senate changes, they must vote again.
The bill must be signed by midnight Friday to take effect. Otherwise, the current spending stays in place.
