Early Thursday, the Senate passed President Trump’s rescission package, granting the administration a significant policy and fiscal achievement. At 2:30 a.m., the Senate voted to eliminate $9 billion in funding aimed at foreign aid and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The final vote tally was 51-48, with Senators Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski opposing the bill, as expected, while Minnesota Democrat Tina Smith was absent due to hospitalization for unspecified reasons. Consistent with his approach, Senator Mitch McConnell changed his vote to favor the bill at the last moment after signaling potential opposition to the spending cuts. The House plans to vote on the package by Friday.
Most of the cuts, nearly $8 billion, are from foreign aid spending. Nonetheless, $400 million originally designated for President George W. Bush’s iconic President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) program was reinstated. Trump realized a long-standing conservative aspiration by defunding the Corporation for Public Broadcasting with a $1.1 billion cut. However, several million dollars were redirected to the Department of the Interior to host tribal radio stations.
This is the first instance of the rescission process being used to reduce spending since 1999. President Trump previously attempted a $15 billion cut in 2018, but the proposal did not pass the Senate. Since its introduction via the Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974, presidents have put forward 1,178 rescission requests, totaling $76 billion; of these, 461 requests, accounting for $25 billion, have successfully made it through Congress.
Despite the signal victory chalked up by the administration, a lot of unresolved conflict remains. This bill was passed primarily due to President Trump’s personal lobbying and the widespread support of grassroots conservative voters. To get to a win, the White House provided Congress with as little detail as possible.
Wicker added, from the chamber floor, “if you come back to us again, Mr. Director of the OMB — if you come back to us again from the executive branch — give us the specific amounts and the specific programs that will be cut.”
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), hours before voting for the package, said, “I suspect we’re going to find out there are some things that we’re going to regret. … And I suspect that when we do we’ll have to come back and fix it.”
The administration’s desire to slash spending will inevitably run head-on into the congressional impulse to buy votes. Even as they voted to cut spending this time, several GOP senators are trying to force the White House to release $7 billion appropriated for highly questionable programs to the bloated educational system.
