WASHINGTON — The House advanced the first round of requested spending cuts from the Trump administration in a narrow party-line vote, overcoming the first hurdle to enact a slew of recommendations made by the Department of Government Efficiency earlier this year.
Lawmakers voted 214-212 to approve the $9.4 billion rescissions package specifically targeting foreign aid as well as federal funding for organizations the Trump administration has accused of being anti-conservative. The package now heads to the Senate, which will have until July 18 to approve the requests otherwise the halted funding must be continued.
All four members of Utah’s House delegation voted in favor of the package.
The fate of the bill appeared to be in peril when six Republicans initially voted against the measure on the floor, setting it up to fail. However, GOP leaders huddled with holdouts on the floor and managed to get two of those defectors to flip.
The package looks to cut $1.1 billion from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a nonprofit organization authorized by Congress in 1967. Every year, Congress appropriates funds to the CPB which are then distributed to more than 1,500 public media stations through community service grants.
The spending cuts specifically target stations such as PBS and NPR, which the Trump administration claims unfairly target conservatives and the Republican Party.
The package also cuts funding to the United States Agency for International Development, which provides foreign aid, as well as funds for the World Health Organization.
The bill proposes millions of dollars in cuts to the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), a program started under the George W. Bush administration focusing on the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS. The rescissions package would cut more than $8 million dedicated to the program.
Those provisions initially put the package in murky territory as several moderate Republicans opposed cuts to the programs, specifically pointing to PEPFAR as “one of the most successful public health programs in the world.” Other Republicans questioned the slashed funding to public broadcasting stations, citing strong relationships with their local news outlets.
The package now heads to the Senate where it must be passed within 36 days to adhere to rescissions rules. Otherwise, the funds must be unfrozen and allocated to the appropriate agencies.
The package will only require a simple majority in the Senate as rescissions packages are exempt from filibuster rules, relieving Republicans from needing to rely on any Democrats to help pass Trump’s proposed cuts.