WASHINGTON – The U.S. House voted to take back $9.4 billion in federal spending on foreign aid and public broadcasting requested by President Donald Trump, overcoming fractures within the GOP conference that nearly derailed the vote.
The bill passed the House 214-212 on June 12. Now, the bill goes to the Senate where it is expected to be debated later this summer.
The vote is a win for Trump and his billionaire former advisor, Elon Musk, and the Department of Government Efficiency project that all but eliminated the U.S. Agency for International Development. Billions of dollars of the targeted funds flowed through the now-defunct agency.
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It also reflects ongoing tensions within the Republican party over spending and Congress’ control over government spending.
Many GOP lawmakers were eager to push the request through, but moderate members of the party raised concerns with the impact of cuts.
A primary concern was the $1.1 billion in cuts to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which funds NPR and PBS.
Rep. Mark Amodei, R-Nevada, penned a joint statement with Rep. Dan Goldman, D-New York, chairs of the Public Broadcasting Caucus, defending “the valuable role public media plays across our districts, particularly in rural areas where, in many cases, it is the only available and reliable media service available.”
“Rural broadcasters face significant challenges in raising private funds, making them particularly vulnerable if government funding is cut,” they wrote.
Others have said they’re concerned about cuts to the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), a program started under former President George W. Bush. In total, the package would pull back $8.3 billion in foreign aid.
Several Republicans have also raised concerns privately that the package oversteps the balance of power between Congress and the executive branch, because the request targets funds previously approved by lawmakers and because the proposal itself, in some cases, leaves out details on specifically what would change.
However, House leadership praised the effort as an easy way to deliver on promises to cut federal spending.
“We all ran on the government has a spending problem,” GOP conference chair Lisa McClain, R-Michigan, told USA TODAY on June 9. “We’re talking about $9.4 billion. This is a no-brainer.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump wins House approval to take back foreign aid, NPR, PBS funding
