By Brendan Scanland
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congressional leaders are preparing to take up a new rescissions package next week that could slash billions in funding from international aid, public broadcasting and other domestic and international programs.
The proposed package, sent by the White House Tuesday, seeks to codify $9.4 billion in cuts identified by the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.
Among the programs targeted: the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), global health initiatives and public media outlets like NPR and PBS.
According to the Treasury Department, the federal government spent $6.75 trillion in fiscal year 2024. The proposed cuts would amount to roughly 0.14% of the FY 2024 total.
“We’re overspending by nearly $2 trillion a year,” said Rep. Dan Meuser (R-PA). “Our credit rating is getting hit, it’s suffering. And it’s really an unstable situation. It has to be corrected.”
If approved, the bill would eliminate:
- $8.3 billion in foreign aid, including funds supporting LGBTQ communities overseas;
- $142 million in contributions to UNICEF;
- $1.1 billion in funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB).
The proposed cuts have sparked concern among Democrats and advocacy groups. On Wednesday, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and dozens of Democratic senators sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) opposing the $1.1 billion CPB cut.
“This funding is essential to the functioning of the public media system and the communities they serve,” the senators wrote. “Any cuts in funding would have detrimental effects on local stations, which rely on this funding to provide critical services to millions of Americans.”
Bobby Kogan, senior director of federal budget policy at the Center for American Progress, called the rescissions package “an abdication of America’s leadership” in a statement Tuesday.
“The White House has framed this request as simply going after waste,” Kogan said. “But it has called to cut cost-effective assistance programs that amount to only a tiny fraction of the federal budget — targeting programs it simply doesn’t like. They will result in more deadly diseases that reach American shores.”
Historically, rescissions packages rarely succeed. Congress has the power of the purse and typically rejects presidential efforts to roll back funds it already approved. But with a Republican trifecta in Washington, this time could be different.
Formal consideration of the package is expected to begin next week.
