Topline
The Senate voted to approve a White House request to cancel $9 billion in previously approved funding for foreign aid and public broadcasting early on Thursday, handing President Donald Trump and his administration a significant win in their push to gain more control over federal spending.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., speaks to the press outside his office at the US Capitol ... More
The rescissions package, which will claw back the $9 billion in funding, was approved with a 51-48 vote.
Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Susan Collins, R-Maine, were the only two GOP senators who voted against the bill while Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., was unable to vote as she had been taken to the hospital earlier in the day after she “started to not feel well.”
The bill now moves to the GOP-controlled House, which is expected to pass it later this week.
The legislation agrees to claw back $1.1 billion in funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting—which helps fund public broadcasters like PBS and NPR—and around $8 billion from foreign aid programs.
This is a developing story.