The U.S. Senate approved a package of spending cuts early Thursday morning, proposed by President Donald Trump, aimed at eliminating more than $9 billion in funding for foreign aid programmes and public broadcasting.
In a late-night session that stretched past midnight, the Republican-led Senate passed the bill with a close vote of 51-48. The approval marked an early test of how easily lawmakers could implement savings promoted by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), following Musk’s contentious exit from the government.
Despite the unpopularity of these cuts among certain factions in both parties, the measure passed. The House of Representatives had previously approved a version of the bill in June, which sought to cut $400 million in funding for health programmes, including the PEPFAR global AIDS relief initiative created by President George W. Bush. However, the proposal to defund PEPFAR—which has saved an estimated 26 million lives—faced pushback from moderate Republican senators and was ultimately dropped.
South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham defended the bill, stating that it aligned with Trump’s promise to cut government spending.
“I’ve been a big fan of the foreign aid accounts… I’m a big hawkish guy, but you need foreign aid. You need soft power,” he said.
“But when you start spending money on a bunch of junk and liberal programmes disconnected from the purpose of the aid package, it makes it difficult for a guy like me.”
Now, with the Senate’s approval, the bill moves back to the House for final approval, with lawmakers racing against the clock. Congress must approve the cuts by Friday, or the White House will be required to spend the money as initially intended.
“Rescission packages”, which aim to claw back funds already allocated by Congress, are extremely rare, and the last one passed was decades ago.
Several Republicans raised concerns about granting the White House the power to dictate these spending cuts, putting them at odds with Trump. The president recently threatened to withhold endorsements from any GOP lawmakers who voted against his agenda.
The vote represents the first step in what Republicans hope will be a series of packages to codify the spending cuts proposed by DOGE. Musk, who was appointed to lead the task force after investing $290 million in Trump’s campaign, had promised he could save $2 trillion in federal spending. However, Musk left the White House in late May following a public feud with Trump over deficits and spending. DOGE now claims to have saved taxpayers $190 billion, though fact-checkers have raised questions about the accuracy of this figure due to prior discrepancies in the department’s accounting.
The rescissions package cuts around $8 billion in foreign aid, most of which was designated for humanitarian organization USAID, one of DOGE’s first targets. Additionally, the package proposes taking back $1 billion from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which funds NPR, PBS, and more than 1,500 local radio and television stations. Conservatives have long accused PBS and NPR of bias, and in May, Trump signed an executive order to stop federal funding for both networks.
Democrats argue that these cuts will not significantly reduce the deficit but will dismantle a trusted source of information for millions of Americans.
“It is yet another example of the spirit and ideals of our Constitution being undermined in a terrible way. We are a nation that believes that Congress has a real role,” New Jersey Senator Cory Booker told AFP.
“And this is a bunch of my colleagues in thrall of the president, surrendering the powers of us and the urgency for us to work together and do it in a bipartisan way to improve budgets.”
