House Republicans voted Thursday to pass the Trump White House’s rescissions package cutting $9.4 billion of spending from the U.S. Agency for International Development and defunding National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Service.
By a vote of 214–212, the House passed the Trump administration’s rescissions package, with four Republicans joining 208 Democrats in voting against it. The spending package would codify the Department of Government Efficiency’s effort to dismantle USAID and President Trump’s executive order to defund NPR and PBS because of their left-wing bias. It now heads to the GOP-controlled Senate where its future is uncertain.
“It will OFFICALLY [sic] ‘claw back’ $9.4 BILLION DOLLARS in funding for wasteful Foreign Aid, used for Radical ‘DEI’ and the Green New SCAM, and the ‘Corporation for Public Broadcasting,’ which funds the highly biased NPR and PBS,” Trump said on Truth Social, addressing the House vote.
Representative Nick LaLota (R., N.Y.) flipped at the last minute to ensure the rescissions package passed, handing a win to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.) in bringing together the GOP’s narrow majority. The vote also underscores the significance of the deaths of three Democratic representatives in recent months.
“Today’s passage of this initial rescissions package marks a critical step towards a more responsible and transparent government that puts the interest of the American taxpayers first,” Johnson said.
“This package eliminates $9.4 billion dollars in unnecessary and wasteful spending at the State Department, USAID, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which funds politically biased media outlets like NPR and PBS. It’s just one of the ways Republicans are codifying DOGE’s findings and putting taxpayer dollars to better use,” Johnson added.
Dismantling USAID was a key aspect of DOGE’s effort to streamline and reduce waste in the federal government. The agency’s long track record of funding left-wing causes worldwide made it a prime target for spending cuts and the reallocation of its remaining programs to the State Department.
Likewise, NPR and PBS’s left-wing bias prompted Trump to sign an executive order last month cutting off taxpayer funding to the two outlets. NPR has claimed just 1 percent of its funding comes from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. But this has been debunked, as the 1 percent represents only direct funding, not the larger portion of its revenue NPR receives from local public radio stations, which use federal funds to purchase programming produced by NPR. For example, in 2021, NPR reported $90 million in revenue from “contracts from customers,” a substantial portion of its $279 million overall funding.
PBS and its stations, meanwhile, receive about 15 percent of their total funding from taxpayer dollars.
“The Rescissions Act puts America First and delivers a strong blow against Washington’s addiction to reckless spending. This is just the beginning, and we will continue to root out wasteful Washington spending. We call on the Senate to pass this bill without delay and send it to President Trump’s desk for signature,” said Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R., Ky.), who has investigated waste, fraud, and abuse in the federal government.
DOGE attempted to examine line items at other agencies and reduce spending where it saw fit, leading at times to controversy and confusion. Billionaire Elon Musk was the public facing leader of DOGE until his government employment ended last month following a 130-day tenure as a special government employee. Musk and President Trump had a dramatic online falling out last week over the GOP’s “big, beautiful” bill, but in recent days Musk has struck a more conciliatory tone.