US Senate passes aid, public broadcasting cuts in victory for Trump
The vote raises concerns about Congress’ control over spending
The US Senate early on Thursday approved President Donald Trump’s plan for billions of dollars in cuts to funding for foreign aid and public broadcasting, handing the Republican president another victory as he exerts control over Congress with little opposition.
The Senate voted 51 to 48 in favour of Trump’s request to cut US$9 billion in spending already approved by Congress.
Most of the cuts are to programmes to assist foreign countries suffering from disease, war and natural disasters, but the plan also eliminates all US$1.1 billion the Corporation for Public Broadcasting was due to receive over the next two years.
Trump and many of his fellow Republicans argue that spending on public broadcasting is an unnecessary expense and reject its news coverage as suffering from anti-right bias.
Stand-alone rescissions packages have not passed in decades, with lawmakers reluctant to cede their constitutionally mandated control of spending. But Trump’s Republicans, who hold narrow majorities in the Senate and House, have shown little appetite for resisting his policies since he began his second term in January.
The US$9 billion at stake is minuscule in the context of the US$6.8 trillion federal budget, and represents only a tiny portion of all the funds approved by Congress that the Trump administration has held up while it has pursued sweeping cuts, many ordered by billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.