The U.S. Senate early Thursday narrowly approved President Donald Trump’s $9 billion rescission package, slashing funds previously approved for foreign aid and eliminating the Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s $1.1 billion allocation over the next two years. The 51-48 vote marked a significant win for the president, who has faced little opposition from the Republican-controlled Congress since beginning his second term in January.
Most of the cuts target global health and disaster relief programs, prompting concern among some lawmakers. Two Republican senators—Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins—voted against the bill, citing potential risks to global disease efforts and warning against undermining Congress’s constitutional role in controlling federal spending.
The package initially totaled $9.4 billion but was reduced after the Trump administration agreed to spare PEPFAR, a high-profile HIV/AIDS initiative. The adjustment requires the House to vote again before the measure reaches the president’s desk. If not passed by Friday, the rescission request will expire.
While Republican leaders hailed the cuts as a step toward “fiscal sanity,” Democrats criticized the move as partisan and hypocritical, pointing to a recent Republican-backed tax and spending package projected to add over $3 trillion to the national debt. They also warned that such unilateral cuts could endanger bipartisan cooperation needed to pass critical government funding bills by September 30.
